Julia C. Collins

Julia C. Collins (c. 1842 – November 25, 1865), was an African American schoolteacher in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, who in 1864 and 1865 contributed essays and other writings to The Christian Recorder, a publication of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Starting in January 1865, her novel, The Curse of Caste, or the Slave Bride, was serialized in the pages of the Christian Recorder. The novel remains unfinished due to Collins' death from Tuberculosis in November 1865.

In 2006, William L. Andrews of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Mitch Kachun of Western Michigan University collected Collins' writings and her unfinished novel and published them, with commentary and notes, through Oxford University Press.

Life and literary work

Life

Little is known about Julia Collins' life. Scholars believe she was born a free woman in the northern United States, though her birth name and birthdate are unknown. Only one African American woman named "Julia" appears in the 1860 Williamsport, Pennsylvania census, a 17-year-old Julia Green who was living with the family of Enoch Gilchrist, a black abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor. It is plausible that the two Julias are the same person, but cannot be verified. Indicating that the author was educated and well-read, Collins referenced Alexander Pope, William Shakespeare, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and classical antiquity in her essays.

What is known about Collins comes primarily from references to her in the Christian Recorder. In the April 16, 1864 issue, Enoch Gilchrist announced that Julia Collins was appointed as schoolteacher for the African-American children in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

More is known about her husband, Stephen Carlisle Collins. Stephen was born a free man in Pennsylvania and lived in Williamsport. During the Civil War, he was an officer's servant, before enlisting in the 6th United States Colored Infantry Regiment. For a period of time after the war, he operated a barber shop in Williamsport and served as commander of the Fribley Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans' organization for Civil War soldiers. These children have been identified as Sarah and Annie Collins. Since Stephen was previously married, the eldest daughter Sarah, born around 1858, was likely not Julia Collins’ biological daughter. Born around 1862, Annie was raised by her grandparents after her mother's death. Annie worked as a domestic servant, married lumberer John L. Caution in 1884, and died suddenly in 1889. During a presentation at Saginaw Valley State University, Kachun remarked how it is unusual that Collins' characters are allowed to be married and (briefly) happy in a tumultuous America. Kachun speculated that "[Collins] is exploring what could be a happy ending, an empowering ending, in which marriage and civility are things that African American women can aspire to." He believes arguing the importance of this unfinished and editorially presumptuous novel takes away from the achievement of vital African-American literary works. Collins used the vehicle of the Christian Recorder to share her voice with a broad audience, and Tucker hopes Collins' messages of self-improvement, racial uplift, and gender ideologies resonate with people today.

In June 2010, a Pennsylvania State Historical Marker was installed on Williamsport’s River Walk, near the presumed site of Collins' home and school, to recognize the importance of her life and work.