Mary Weston Fordham: Author Page
After the Civil War, Fordham joined the American Missionary Association in 1865, impressing officials with her teaching ability. By November of that year, she was part of an eighteen-teacher staff instructing 800 students in Charleston. Fordham fought for equal pay as the white female teachers, even refusing, at one point, to continue working until her salary demands were met.
In addition to her work as an educator, Fordham began writing poetry in the 1860s. Her only published collection, Magnolia Leaves, appeared in 1897 with an introduction by Booker T. Washington who hoped that these poems “fall among the critical and intelligent.” While relying heavily on 19th-century poetic conventions, Fordham’s verses cover a range of topics from labor (see “The Washerwoman”) to education (see “The Saxon Legend of Language”).
In writing her goals for her only collection, Fordham noted in the preface that she hoped that African American “youth” would be inspired “to higher and greater efforts.” She spent her career dedicated to educating and uplifting her community through teaching and her literary pursuits. Fordham taught until just two weeks before her death in Charleston in 1905.
Works Cited
Govan, Sandra Y. “Mary Weston Fordham.” Notable Black Women, Book II, Gale Research, 1992, pp.
231–234.