Angelina Grimké

“ Rachel: Then, everywhere, everywhere, throughout the South, there are hundreds of dark mothers who live in fear, terrible, suffocating fear, whose rest by night is broken, and whose joy by day in their babies on their hearts is three parts—pain. Oh, I know this is true—for this is the way I should feel, if I were little Jimmy’s mother. How horrible! Why—it would be more merciful—to strangle the little things at birth. And so this nation—this white Christian nation—has deliberately set its curse upon the most beautiful—the most holy thing in life—motherhood! ”

“ What ridiculous language you do use, Rachel! Well, I’m no prophet, but I see very distinctly what is going to happen. This little brown baby will be living here night and day. You’re not happy unless some child is trailing along in your rear.
Rachel (Mischievously) : Now, Ma dear, whose a hypocrite? What? I suppose you don’t like children! I can tell you one thing, though, it won’t be my fault if he isn’t here night and day. Oh, I wish he were all mine, every bit of him! Ma dear, do you suppose that “she woman” he calls mother would let him come up here until it is time for him to go to bed? ”

“ For many days slavery was the only topic discussed between them, and then one morning Angelina entered the breakfast-room with a beaming countenance, and said:—
"It has all come to me; God has shown me what I can do; I can write an appeal to Southern women, one which, thus inspired, will touch their hearts, and lead them to use their influence with their husbands and brothers. I will speak to them in such tones that they must hear me, and, through me, the voice of justice and humanity." ”

“ The longer our loved ones are spared to us, the closer becomes the tie by which we are bound to them, and the deeper the pain of separation. It was thus with Angelina. She could rejoice at her sister's blessed translation, but she keenly felt the bereavement notwithstanding. Their lives had been so bound together; they had walked so many years side by side; they had so shared each other's burdens, cares, and sorrows, that she who was left scarcely knew how to live the daily life without that dear twin-soul. ”

“ They looked up, and there, in the moonlight, by their bed, was the dearest, little old lady. She was dressed all in gray, from the peak of her little pointed hat to her little, buckled shoes. She held a black cane much taller than her little self. Her hair fell about her ears in tiny, grey corkscrew curls, and they bobbed about as she moved. Her eyes were black and bright—as bright as—well, as that lovely, white light there. No, there! And her cheeks were as red as the apple I gave you yesterday. Do you remember?
Jimmy (Dreamily) : Yes.
Rachel: “Why are you crying, little boys?” ”

“ I feel that I have done what was required of me, and I am willing he should think of me as he does, so long as I enjoy the testimony of a good conscience."
We cannot wonder that Angelina drew upon herself, as Sarah had done, the arrows of ridicule; and that taunts and sneers followed her, as she walked alone in her simple dress to her humble place of worship. ”

“ The affection between her and Angelina was growing daily more tender—perhaps a little more maternal on her part. Drawn closer together by the now complete separation from every member of their own family, and by the disapproval and coldness of their Philadelphia friends, they were an inexpressible solace and help to each other. Identified in all their trials, as now in their labors, they worked together in a sweet unity of spirit, which lessened every difficulty and lightened every burden. ”

“ She went to Philadelphia and joined the Society of Friends. After some years of comparatively quiet life, Angelina wrote in 1835 a sympathetic letter to Wm. Lloyd Garrison, which he published in The Liberator. She wrote next “An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South,” a pamphlet which “produced,” says Mrs. Birney, “the most profound sensation wherever it was read.” Not long afterward “the city authorities of Charleston learned,” writes Mr. Theodore D. Weld, “that Miss Grimké was intending to visit her mother and sisters, and pass the winter with them. ”

“ And so tender, so true and sacred was the communion which had grown between them, that they could not be separated long.
Angelina continued, as her feeble health permitted, to do alone the work Sarah had shared with her. The sick, the poor, the sorrowing, were looked after and cared for as usual; but as she was already weighed down by declining years, the burdens she tried to bear were too heavy. Sarah used to say: "Angelina's creed is, for herself, work till you drop; for others, spare yourself." ”

“ The clear sense of justice and the broad humanity which inspired their trenchant rebukes and fervid appeals not only enlightened and encouraged other women, but led to inquiry into various wrongs practised towards the sex which had up to that time been suffered in silence and in ignorance, or in despair of any possibility of relief. The peculiar tenderness of Sarah Grimké's nature, and her overflowing sympathy with any form of suffering, led her, earlier than Angelina, to the consideration of the necessity of some organized system of protection of helpless women and children ”

“ Rachel: Do you wish to know why Jimmy is crying?
Strong: Yes.
Rachel: I am twenty-two—and I’m old; you’re thirty-two—and you’re old; Tom’s twenty-three—and he is old. Ma dear’s sixty—and she said once she is much older than that. She is. We are all blighted; we are all accursed—all of us—, everywhere, we whose skins are dark—our lives blasted by the white man’s prejudice. (Pauses) And my little Jimmy—seven years old, that’s all—is blighted too. In a year or two, at best, he will be made old by suffering. ”

“ Rachel: Ma dear, you frighten me. Save me from what?
Mrs. Loving: Just life, my little chickabiddy!
Rachel: Is life so terrible? I had found it mostly beautiful. How can life be terrible, when the world is full of little children?
[14]
Mrs. Loving (Very sadly) : Oh, Rachel! Rachel!
Rachel: Ma dear, what have I said?
Mrs. Loving (Forcing a smile) : Why, the truth, of course, Rachel. Life is not terrible when there are little children—and you—and Tom—and a roof over our heads—and work—and food—and clothes—and sleep at night. (Pauses) . Rachel, I am not myself today. I’m tired. ”

“ She laughs shyly and jumping up, begins to hum. She opens the window at the rear of the room and then commences to thread the sewing-machine. She hums happily the whole time. A light rapping is heard at the outer door. Rachel listens. It stops, and begins again. There is something insistent, and yet hopeless in the sound. Rachel looking puzzled, goes out into the vestibule.... The door closes. Rachel, a black woman, poorly dressed, and a little ugly, black child come in. There is the stoniness of despair in the woman’s face. ”

“ Angelina's confidence in herself increased rapidly, until she no longer felt the least embarrassment in speaking; though she alludes to the exhausting effect of the meetings on her physical system. Of Sarah, she says, writing to Jane Smith:—
"It is really delightful to see dear sister so happy in this work.... Some Friends come to hear us, but I do not know what they think of the meetings—or of us. How little, how very little I supposed, when I used so often to say 'I wish I were a man,' that I could go forth and lecture, that I ever would do such a thing. ”

“ Rachel (Rises rather wearily and goes into the kitchenette. While she is out of the room Mrs. Loving does not move. She sits staring in front of her. The room for some time has been growing dark. Mrs. Loving can just be seen when Rachel reenters with the lamp. She places it on the small table near her mother, adjusts it, so the light falls on her mother’s work, and then lowers the window shades at the windows. She still droops. Mrs. Loving, while Rachel is in the room, is industrious. Rachel puts on her hat and coat listlessly. She does not look in the glass) . Where is the money, Ma dear? ”

“ I didn’t dream it was so late. (Starts for the vestibule) . Oh! the world can’t be so bad. I don’t believe it. I won’t. I must forget that little girl. My little Jimmy is happy—and today John—sent me beautiful rosebuds. Oh, there are lovely things, yet. (Goes into the vestibule. A child’s eager cry is heard; and Rachel carrying Jimmy in her arms comes in. He has both arms about her neck and is hugging her. With him in her arms, she sits down in the armchair at the right front) .
Rachel: Well, honey, how was school today?
Jimmy (Sobering a trifle) : All right, Ma Rachel. ”

“ I are almost a man, aren’t I?
Rachel: Oh! Boy, I’m getting tired of correcting you—“I am almost a man, am I not?” Jimmy, boy, what will Ma Rachel do, if you grow up? Why, I won’t have a little boy any more! Honey, you mustn’t grow up, do you hear? You mustn’t.
[33]
Jimmy: Oh, yes, I must; and you’ll have me just the same, Ma Rachel. I’m going to be a policeman and make lots of money for you and Ma Loving and Uncle Tom, and I’m going to buy you some trains and fire-engines, and little, cunning ponies, and some rabbits, and some great ’normous banks full of money—lots of it. ”

“ Each year, the problem just to live, gets more difficult to solve. How about these children—if we’re fools enough to have any? (Rachel reenters. Her face is drawn and pale. She returns to the kitchenette.)
Strong (Slowly, with emphasis) : That part—is damnable! (A silence.)
Tom (Suddenly looking at the clock) : It’s later than I thought. I’ll have to be pulling out of here now, if you don’t mind. (Raising his voice) Rachel! (Rachel still drawn and pale, appears in the doorway of the kitchenette. She is without her apron) . I’ve got to go now, Sis. I leave John in your hands. ”

“ Little Martha (Softly stroking Rachel’s arm) : You’re the very nicest “grown-up”, (loyally) except my muzzer, of course, I ever knew. You knows all about little chil’run and you can be one, although you’re all grown up. I think you would make a lovely muzzer. (To the rest of the children) Don’t you?
All (In excited whispers) : Yes, I do.
Rachel (Winces, then says gently) : Come, kiddies, you must go now, or your mothers will blame me for keeping you. (Rises, as do the rest. Little Martha puts her hand into Rachel’s) . Ma dear, I’m going down to sit a little while with Jenny. ”

“ The old wounds would still sometimes bleed and the heart ache for home joys all her own. Writing to Jane Smith in 1852, she says: "I chide myself that I am not happier than I am, surrounded by so many blessings, but there are times when I feel as though the sun of earthly bliss had set for me. I know not what would have become of me but for Angelina's children. ”

“ Angelina, writing of her brother's death, says: "The world has lost an eminent reformer in the cause of Christian education, an eloquent advocate of peace, and one who was remarkably ready for every good work. I never saw a man who combined such brilliant talents, such diversity and profundity of knowledge, with such humility of heart and such simplicity and gentleness of manner. ”

“ While Angelina was thus busily employed, and buoyed up by the hope of benefiting those whose wrongs she had all her life felt so deeply, Sarah was reaching towards her, and in trying to be indulgent to her and just to her Society at the same time, she was awakening to her own false position and to some of the awful mistakes of her religious life. ”

“ Angelina says to Jane Smith:—
"I wish you could see sister's admirable reply to this. We told him we were entirely willing he should publish anything he felt it right to, but that we could not consent to his saying in our name that we preferred female audiences only, because in so saying we should surrender a fundamental principle, believing, as we did, that as moral beings it was our duty to appeal to all moral beings on this subject, without any distinction of sex. He thinks we are throwing a responsibility on the Anti-Slavery Society which will greatly injure it. ”

“ Weld allowed it to trouble her no more, but, with her husband and sister, expressed a feeling of exultation in acknowledging the relationship of the youths, as a testimony and protest against the wickedness of that hate which had always trampled down the people of color because they were as God made them.
On Angelina's return journey, Sarah, ever anxious about her, met her at Newark and accompanied her home. A few weeks later, writing to Sarah Douglass an account of the Grimké boys, she says:—
"They are very promising young men. ”

“ During the singing, Tom and Mrs. Loving apparently do not listen; when she sobs, however, Tom’s hand on his paper tightens; Mrs. Loving’s needle poises for a moment in mid-air. Neither looks at Rachel. Jimmy evidently has not noticed the sob) .
Rachel (Kneeling by Jimmy) : Well, honey, how did you like it?
Jimmy (Proceeding to pull down her hair from the twist) : It was lovely, Ma Rachel. (Yawns audibly) . Now, Ma Rachel, I’m just beautifully sleepy. (Dreamily) I think that p’r’aps I’ll go to the Land of Laughter tonight in my dreams. ”

“ We’re entirely too old, but we still play. Ma dear rather dreads the climb up three flights, so Tom and I do all the errands. We don’t mind climbing the stairs, particularly when we go up two or three at a time,—that is—Tom still does. I can’t, Ma dear stopped me. (Sighs) . I’ve got to grow up it seems.
Strong (Evidently amused) : It is rather hard being a girl, isn’t it?
[8]
Rachel: Oh, no! It’s not hard at all. That’s the trouble; they won’t let me be a girl. I’d love to be.
Mrs. Loving (Reentering with parcel. She smiles) : My Chatterbox, I see, is entertaining you, Mr. Strong. ”