Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Donate today to give back in celebration of all that #PublicMediaGives. Your contribution will be matched $1 for $1.

N.H. to Honor First African-American Novelist

Cover for the Penguin USA version of <i>Our Nig</i>
/
Cover for the Penguin USA version of Our Nig

New Hampshire indentured servant-turned-novelist Harriet Wilson wrote Our Nig: or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black more than a century ago.

The work is the first known publication by an African American. Wilson will become the first person of color in New Hampshire history to have a monument in her likeness.

The book was first published in 1859 and was re-discovered and published again in the 1980s. Wilson is now considered the mother of the African-American novelist tradition.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.