James Monroe Whitfield (c. April 10, 1822 – April 23, 1871) was an
African-American poet, abolitionist, and political activist. He was a notable writer and activist in
abolitionism
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The Britis ...
and African emigration during the
antebellum era
In the history of the Southern United States, the Antebellum Period (from la, ante bellum, lit= before the war) spanned the end of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. The Antebellum South was characterized by the ...
. He published the book ''America and other Poems'' in 1853.
Early life
Whitfield was born April 10 or 12, 1822, in
Exeter, New Hampshire, to Nancy (Paul) of Exeter and Joseph Whitfield, who escaped from slavery in Virginia.
His mother Nancy was the daughter of Caesar Nero Paul, a man of African descent who was enslaved at the age of fourteen as a house-boy in the
Maj. John Gilman House
The Maj. John Gilman House is a historic house at 25 Cass Street in Exeter, New Hampshire, United States. Built in 1738, it is a well-preserved example of a Georgian gambrel-roof house, further notable for its association with the locally promine ...
, and later became free in 1771 after capture in the
French and Indian Wars.
Through his mother, James was the nephew of
Rev. Thomas Paul of the
African Meeting House in Boston, and
Jude Hall
Jude (Judas) Hall was an African-American soldier in the American Revolutionary War. He served from 1775 to 1783, thus earning his freedom from slavery. After the war, he married and settled in Exeter, New Hampshire, where his homestead is still ...
, veteran of the Revolutionary War . (See Jude Hall's full genealogical report on the Jude and Rhoda Hall Society webpage.)
The small family home was on Whitfield's Lane, renamed Elliot Street in 1845. The house on the idyllic tree-lined lane is described in the historical memoirs of Elizabeth Dow Leonard: ''"Near the bridge, lived our friend Whitfield in a pretty cottage surrounded by hollyhocks, bachelor's buttons, poppies, saffron, and caraway, and the leafy orchards of their more wealthy neighbors.''"
James Whitfield attended Exeter schools until the age of nine, when his father died suddenly.
[Dixon, David T.]
"Freedom Earned, Equality Denied: Evolving Race Relations in Exeter and Vicinity, 1776–1876"
''Bridge over Troubled Waters''. His mother Nancy had died when James was seven, so James and his siblings were moved out of town, possibly by his sister.
In 1839, he lived in
Buffalo, New York, as a
barber,
at 30 East Seneca St. He owned the shop as well as his home on South Division St.
Besides running the barber shop, Whitfield would write in his free time, publishing his own papers by the age of 16.
Whitfield married Frances (Lewey) b. CT in 1822) on July 12, 1843 in
Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Cuyahoga County ( or ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the Canada–United States border, U.S.-Canada maritime border. As of the 2020 U ...
. They had three sons: James Lewey Jr. (b. 1844 in Cleveland), Charles Henry (b. 1846 in Buffalo), and Walter B. (b. 1849 in Buffalo).
His grand-niece was Boston writer and playwright
Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins
Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins (1859 – August 13, 1930) was an American novelist, journalist, playwright, historian, and editor. She is considered a pioneer in her use of the romantic novel to explore social and racial themes, as demonstrated i ...
. In her fiction novel of 1900,
Contending Forces
''Contending Forces: A Romance Illustrative of Negro Life North and South'' is the first major novel by Pauline Hopkins, first published in 1900. ''Contending Forces'' focuses on African American families in post-Civil War American society. Hopki ...
, she describes a scene at James' home in Exeter with his mother. A 2008 book by Lois Brown goes into detail.
Poetry and writing
Whitfield published a small volume of poetry in 1853 entitled ''America and other Poems'' (publisher James S. Leavitt of Buffalo) which was dedicated to his friend
Martin Delany. Half of the poems are about slavery, the other half about art, nature or people such as
John Quincy Adams,
Daniel Webster, or
Joseph Cinque. Whitfield found success publishing poems related to abolitionism elsewhere as well, many being printed in
''The Liberator'' and
''The North Star''.
Whitfield's poems often expressed the oppression affecting African Americans, and moral corruption in politics and religion.
One of Whitfield's most famous poems was ''America'', published in 1853 in his poetry book. The poem embodies many of Whitfield's ideas about the hypocrisy of American freedom and democracy, and the difficult lives for both freed and enslaved Africans in the US.
Another of his famous poems, written in 1867 after the
Civil War, deals with the topic of the two ships that sailed to the New World in 1620, marking the dual beginnings of America and slavery. It was read before a crowd of two thousand people in San Francisco at a celebration commemorating the fourth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The poem's introduction:
More than two centuries have passed
Since, holding on their stormy way,
Before the furious wintry blast,
Upon a dark December day,
Two sails, with different intent,
Approached the Western Continent.
One vessel bore as rich a freight
As ever yet has crossed the wave;
The living germs to form a State
That knows no master, owns no slave.
She bore the pilgrims to that strand
Which since is rendered classic soil,
Where all the honors of the land
May reach the hardy sons of toil.
The other bore the baleful seeds
Of future fratricidal strife,
The germ of dark and bloody deeds,
Which prey upon a nation's life.
The trafficker in human souls
Had gathered up and chained his prey,
And stood prepared to call the rolls,
When, anchored in Virginia's Bay—
Abolition and emigration movements
Frederick Douglass visited Whitfield's barber shop in 1850. From their discussion, Douglass became deeply impressed by Whitfield's poetic abilities, calling him in the
Anti-Slavery Bugle a "sable son of genius." Douglass was also impressed by his passion for abolition, commenting that his job as a barber was "painfully disheartening."
Although Levine & Ivy, contemporary scholars, contend that the shop was a perfect place to network and exchange ideas.
Beyond abolitionism, Whitfield originally became a prominent member of the
Colonization Movement
The back-to-Africa movement was based on the widespread belief among some European Americans in the 18th and 19th century United States that African Americans would want to return to the continent of Africa. In general, the political movement wa ...
, a popular movement focused on African Americans returning to Africa and indigenous parts of the South or Central Americas.
Whitfield broke with Douglass, who was not in favor of emigration and joined with
Martin Delany, who favored
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
or Central America as a location. In August 1853 Delaney, Whitfield and others issued a call for a national convention to address the topic to be held in August 1854 in Cleveland Ohio, which was published in Douglass's
North Star. A heated debate between Douglass and Whitfield was published in several issues after that, which helped frame the issue. Whitfield became involved in a proposal by Missouri Senator
Frank P. Blair to establish a colony for black colonization in
Central America.
Later, in 1859, Whitfield was possibly sent out to look for land for the project.
After the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, Whitfield dropped the emigration issue and moved to California, where he believed there was still opportunity for black people to flourish without oppressive laws.
Later life
In 1861/62 Whitfield, possibly after his wife died, moved to
San Francisco where he was considered by most African-Americans of the Northwest as "the" great African-American poet.
His home was at 918 and then 1006 Washington St., and his barber shop at 916 Kearney St., all of which he owned.
Whitfield joined the
Prince Hall Freemason Hannibal Lodge #1 and later served as a Worshipful Master for their California Grand Lodge 1864-69.
On April 23, 1871, he died of heart disease in San Francisco at the age of 49. Whitfield was interred at the now defunct
Masonic Cemetery.
Legacy
Whitfield's poems are included in the Library of America's anthology ''African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song''.
In 2022, a 200th birthday celebration was held at the Exeter LitFest, in which national poet, Willie Perdomo, read "America"
One of Whitfield's poem is recited annually at Exeter, New Hampshire's literary festival.
See also
*
African-American literature
References
External links
James Monroe Whitfield on Poem Hunter* https://web.archive.org/web/20181223030310/https://uncpress.flexpub.com/preview/the-works-of-james-m-whitfield
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitfield, James Monroe
1822 births
1871 deaths
19th-century American poets
African-American abolitionists
American Prince Hall Freemasons
Activists from New Hampshire
Poets from New Hampshire
Barbers
Writers from Buffalo, New York
Activists from Buffalo, New York
People from Exeter, New Hampshire
Burials at Masonic Cemetery (San Francisco)