Just another famous place in Charleston
This is the placard at the William Blake house in Charleston, SC. What the placard does not tell us is that this is also the house where Angelina Grimke, the youngest child of a prominent slave-holding family in early 1800’s Charleston, lived and taught slaves how to read, which was forbidden. She went on to become an outspoken critic of slave-holding, and her life became one of activism.
The entrance facing Bay Street
The house is a law office now.
The back entrance
According to what we read in several books, Angelina began teaching her hand-maiden, a nice word for her slave (in some places referred to as her attendant). Angelina was an outspoken advocate of abolitionism and women’s rights. The house is listed in a book of famous houses of Charleston as 321 East Bay Street. I was surprised there was no plaque to commemorate this remarkable woman, or her family, or her accomplishments….
She is a descendant of Thomas Smith, of Medway Plantation fame.
Tags: Charleston, SC
Ruthrawls's Blog 
December 5, 2010 at 11:34 am |
I am doing the Grimke sisters for a report and they are very interesting.
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December 5, 2010 at 12:15 pm |
Then it will be a most interesting report! Thank you for choosing such a fascinating subject!
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September 9, 2011 at 6:13 pm |
I was fortunate enough twice to be allowed in to view the inside of the building. Check out my website – http://www.grimke.co.uk. I’m their gggg nephew.
http://grimke.wordpress.com/category/family-pen-portraits/page/4/
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July 14, 2014 at 10:54 pm |
Bill, thank you for these great links! People are clicking on your links when they read your comment.
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July 14, 2014 at 10:34 pm |
I use to live there for many years when I was a young man in the left hand side street level apartment, we moved out in the summer of 1958.
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July 14, 2014 at 10:56 pm |
Welcome to the blog, and thank you for your comment! For some reason, this blog post gets hits every day. What, precisely, are internet folks wanting to know?
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July 21, 2014 at 4:51 pm |
“The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kid (“The Secret Life of Bees”) was published in January. It’s a fictional account of the lives of the Grimke sisters. There were actually two of them Angelina and Sara…
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July 21, 2014 at 9:39 pm |
Hello JerseyIng, and welcome to the blog! I did not know about this book, but I loved The Secret Life of Bees. Thank you for sharing!
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July 18, 2014 at 4:44 pm |
Why is the Grimke name not on the placard? Who was William Blake? Did he buy the house after Angelina’s parents died?
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July 21, 2014 at 9:37 pm |
Hello Deb, and welcome to the blog! William Blake was the original owner of the house. Here’s a link to the Historic Charleston Foundation’s description with more information: http://charleston.pastperfect-online.com/33491cgi/mweb.exe?request=record&id=DA4AF31F-419B-4E62-B807-189547871897&type=301.
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February 3, 2015 at 11:51 pm |
Most interesting. Especially the connection with the Secret Lives of Bees.
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February 4, 2015 at 9:43 am |
Gallivanta, have I read the book “The Invention of Wings” yet? No! But why not?
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February 4, 2015 at 9:24 pm |
All in good time! I am sure you have been well occupied with other matters.
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March 15, 2015 at 1:31 am |
I loved “The Invention of Wings” and can’t seem to get enough of the Grimke Sisters. Thanks for sharing this blog post and the information in the replies. It’s been fun learning about them.
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March 15, 2015 at 1:12 pm |
Hello hashtaghouston, and welcome to the blog! There’s another very good book, “Lift Up Thy Voice”, by Mark Perry. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-670-03011-8.
I admit I have a girl crush on the Grimke sisters.
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April 13, 2015 at 6:44 pm |
I’ll check it out! Thanks for the tip!
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June 18, 2015 at 10:31 am |
lived in this house with my grandmother as a youn girl in the 1950’s thru 1960’s
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June 20, 2015 at 7:20 am |
Hello nellie freeman, and welcome to the blog! Can you share some of your memories here? If you like, you can write a guest blog post. Email to me at ruthmarierawls(AT)gmail(DOT)com.
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August 2, 2015 at 5:06 pm |
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