Lift Up Thy Voice: The Grimke Family's Journey from Slaveholders to Civil Rights Leaders [Mass Market Paperback]

Mark Perry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 2002

In the late 1820s Sarah and Angelina Grimké traded their elite position as daughters of a prominent white slaveholding family in Charleston, South Carolina, for a life dedicated to abolitionism and advocacy of women's rights in the North. After the Civil War, discovering that their late brother had had children with one of his slaves, the Grimké sisters helped to educate their nephews and gave them the means to start a new life in postbellum America. The nephews, Archibald and Francis, went on to become well-known African American activists in the burgeoning civil rights movement and the founding of the NAACP. Spanning 150 eventful years, this is an inspiring tale of a remarkable family that transformed itself and America.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tracing the mid-19th-century life stories of two sisters and two brothers "four extraordinary individuals" Perry (Conceived in Liberty) guides the reader along the passage from slavery to emancipation to equality. The sisters are Sarah and Angelina Grimk‚, daughters of a white, wealthy South Carolina planter (and slaveholder). They were brazen enough to reject their state's, family's and class's pro-slavery traditions, becoming two of the most prominent and famous champions of abolition. The brothers in this story are their nephews, black men, Archibald and Francis Grimk‚, born in slavery and equally bold, eventually continuing their aunts' work into the 1930s and transforming the crusade against slavery into a battle for equal rights, thus establishing the foundation for the civil rights movement. From Sarah's birth in 1792 to Francis's death in 1937, Perry recounts their histories. A chronology, brief sketches of the major characters and a thorough bibliography supplement the text. The historical background is deftly handled; while clarifying policies (the Missouri Compromise, the "gag rule"), people (William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois), organizations (the American Anti-Slavery Society, the NAACP) and ideas (educational reform, spiritualism), Perry never loses sight of his primary subjects. The Grimk‚s' personal struggles (the sisters' search for religious fulfillment, the brothers' pursuit of political satisfaction) and their public and published works (Sarah's, as one of America's first feminists, and Francis's, as the first black leader to question Booker T. Washington's views) hold the center to make this book eminently readable. (Oct.)Forecast: This accessible history does not expect readers to have a sophisticated familiarity with the subject. Conceived in Liberty was a main selection of the History Book Club; this book will have an even wider audience.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Sarah and Angelina Grimke were privileged white women from a powerful South Carolina slaveholding family who led the antislavery movement. Their nephews Archibald and Francis Grimke were former slaves who took the struggle into the twentieth century as the focus shifted to equal rights. Perry offers the fascinating family history of the Grimkes and the quintessential American racial pathologies that most slaveholders would have denied but which the Grimkes faced head-on. The sisters were part of America's nascent reform period when the woman suffrage movement intersected with the huge moral issue of slavery. The two women helped shift emphasis beyond antislavery to full equality for blacks and women. Using letters, speeches, diaries, and sermons, Perry presents the personalities of messianic figures during a period of great religious and social foment as political pragmatists clashed with moral idealists. An absorbing look at America's seminal reform movement and the fascinating family that led the struggle. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (December 31, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142001031
• ISBN-13: 978-0142001035
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.9 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,173,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiration to young women, December 17, 2001

By 

Marissa A. Coheley - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lift Up Thy Voice: The Grimke Family's Journeyfrom Slaveholders to Civil Rights Leaders (Hardcover)

Lift Up Thy Voice is a compelling tale of two sisters that will inspire young women to speak up and fight for what they believe. This book recounts the significant, yet often ignored role women played in the abolition of slavery. But beyond the facts of history I enjoyed reading the more personal story of the sisters and the effect their strong beliefs had on their personal lives. Even today having strong feminist views is not without its consequences, but these women spoke out at a time when women belonged their fathers and then to their husbands, rarely to themselves. Mark Perry has written an excellent and comprehensive history of this family and I would recommend it to readers interested in women's history as well as African American history.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Story, January 3, 2002

By 

Janet Donovan (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lift Up Thy Voice: The Grimke Family's Journeyfrom Slaveholders to Civil Rights Leaders (Hardcover)

I agree with reviewer Dan E. Moldea who suggests that the film studios will line up behind this one. It's a wonderfully crafted story which makes you feel you are inside the story. Kudos to author Mark Perry. He is a wonderfully talented story teller.

4.0 out of 5 stars Do meet the Grimkes!, August 26, 2011

By 

Lu Ann W. Darling (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lift Up Thy Voice: The Grimke Family's Journey from Slaveholders to Civil Rights Leaders (Mass Market Paperback)

This excellent book not only covers the Grimke sisters, but their two nephews, sons of their brother and his slave mistress. One gets two different slants on the struggles against slavery of this North Carolina family. Well done!