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Harriet Jacobs

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The Resume

    (February 11, 1813-March 7, 1897)
    Born in Edenton, North Carolina
    Author of 'Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl' (1861)
    Wrote under the pseudonym, Linda Brent
    Escaped from Dr. James Norcom (named Dr. Flint in the book), in 1842, after hiding in her grandmother's attic for seven years

Why she might be annoying:

    Many details in the account of her relationship with Dr. James Norcom are unrealistic.
    In ‘Incidents,’ Norcom spends years trying to ‘corrupt her’ when in reality he would have gotten tired of her, sold her, and moved on to a younger slave girl.
    She claims to have had an affair, and two children, with Samuel Sawyer ('Mr. Sands' in the book) merely to spite Norcom.
    She was angry at being snubbed by Harriet Beecher Stowe, whom she sought for a collaborator on her autobiography.
    She settled on Lydia Maria Child, known for publishing sentimental parlor literature which hasn’t aged well.
    She only got away with publishing material this controversial because she did so after the start of the Civil War, when it was no longer taboo to talk about slavery.
    Her book sold more copies in England than in the United States.
    She claims she was unaware she was even a slave until the age of 12.
    Her work was marginally ignored until Second Wave feminists started pushing it.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was a literate female slave when it was highly uncommon.
    'Incidents' is the most popular and widely read slave narrative after Fredrick Douglass' 'Narrative.'
    Her grandmother (and surrogate mother) was a kick-ass woman who could tell Norcom where to go because she was a freed slave and could get away with it.
    She sustained back injuries from not being able to either sit or stand in the attic she hid in for six years.
    'Incidents' was unprecedented in its honesty about a woman of any color's sexual experiences
    She would send letters to Norcom from her attic hiding place with a New York return address to throw him off, making him think she was hundreds of miles away when she wasn't.
    Predictably, upon the publication of 'Incidents,' she was accused of not having written it.
    Historian Jean F. Yellin confirmed that Jacobs was the true author by producing over 300 primary source documents written by Jacobs, confirming that it wasn't 'ghost-written.'
    She remained good friends with Lydia Maria Child years after collaborating with her on 'Incidents.'
    She left the American Equal Rights Association over disagreements about the 14th and 15th Amendment, in 1866.
    She recounts feeling sympathy for Norcom's jealous wife who threatened to kill her.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying