Abigail Mandana Holmes Christensen (1852–1938) was an American collector of folklore.
Biography
Abigail ("Abbie") Christensen was born in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
to
abolitionist
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 British ...
parents, her family later moved to
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
. She investigated the African origin of the folklore recorded in the region, forwarding selections to newspapers and journals, she eventually published several works on African-American tales and dialect. Christensen was, for a short time, a member of the
American Folklore Society and published in its journal. She sympathised with contemporary movements concerning temperance, protest on inequality, and other socialist causes, but gave special regard to the plight of the peoples from whom she gathered her material. Her major work was ''Afro-American folk lore: told round cabin fires on the Sea Islands of South Carolina'',
Christensen intended that profits from this be used to advance African American equality and self-determination, she assisted in the funding of the Port Royal Agricultural School for this purpose. Christensen's paper on African-American
spirituals and
shouts was read to attendees at the
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...
.
References
1852 births
1938 deaths
Collectors of fairy tales
American folk-song collectors
American folklorists
Women folklorists
People from Beaufort, South Carolina
People from Massachusetts
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