One of the first novels published by an African American woman, “Iola Leroy” is the progressive 1892 novel by famed American abolitionist, suffragist, teacher, and writer, Frances Harper. Born free in Baltimore, Maryland in 1825, Frances Harper came to live with the family of William Still, noted conductor of “The Underground Railroad”, and in 1853 joined the American Anti-Slavery Society and began a career as a public speaker and activist for the abolition of slavery and for women’s rights. Many of the serious social issues which Harper was concerned with are robustly discussed in this work, including the injustice of slavery, the civil rights of former slaves in post slavery America, the rights of women in society, interracial relationships, temperance, and post civil war reconstruction. The story concerns the tale of Eugene Leroy, a wealthy slaveholder who frees and marries one of his slaves, having three children with her. One of these children is the titular Iola, who has been “passing” as white because of her light skin and whose life is thrown into turmoil when her father dies and her African ancestry is brought to light. Over a hundred years after its first publication “Iola Leroy” remains as an important novelization of the dynamic political environment around race relations in mid to late 19th century America.
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