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Her mother died three years later and she was looked after by relatives. She was educated at a school run by her uncle, Rev. William Watkins until the age of thirteen when she found work as a seamstress.

Her first volume of verse, Forest Leaves , was published in 1845, the book was extremely popular and over the next few years went through 20 editions. In 1850, she started working in Columbus, Ohio as a schoolteacher. Three years later in 1853, she joined the American Anti-Slavery Society and became a travelling lecturer for the group. She was also a strong supporter of prohibition and woman's suffrage. She often read her poetry at these public meetings, including the extremely popular Bury Me in a Free Land .

In 1892Events January 1 Ellis Island begins accepting immigrants to the United States. January 14 Death of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, second in line heir to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Next in line is his younger b, she published a novel about a rescued black slave and the Reconstructed South, called Iola Leroy , which was the first book published by an African-American. Later, she also wrote Minnie's Sacrifice , Sowing and Reaping and Trial and Triumph .

Harper was a strong supporter of women's suffrageThe international movement for women's suffrage led by suffragists and suffragettes, was a social, economic and political reform movement aimed at extending the suffrage (i. the right to vote) to women, advocating equal suffrage (abolition of graded votes and was a member of the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA).