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July 17, 2003
Abbie Holmes Christensen (1852-1938) led an uncommon life as an activist in the nineteenth century. She was a Yankee reformer who carried her passions to the South to teach African-American students, work for woman’s rights, temperance, conservation of wildlife, and eventually socialism.
Christensen is best known for a book she wrote, Afro-American Folk Lore: As Told ‘Round Cabin Fires on the Sea Island of South Carolina in 1892. One of the tales is more commonly known as Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby.
Christensen’s story is told in Monica Maria Tetzlaff’s book “Cultivating a New South: Abbie Holmes Christensen and the Politics of Race and Gender.” The book was published in early 2002 by the University of South Carolina Press. It is available at Barnes and Noble.
Tetzlaff, an assistant professor of history, said that Christensen held onto her ideals when others did not agree with her. She welcomed the diversity that added richness to her life. “She had a great tenacity, a great confidence, and on the flip side, a real stubbornness. She was 50 years ahead of her time. She was limited by the times, yet ahead of it.” She tried to make a difference.
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