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The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists - Episode 2

Kaltura

The Civil War brought an abrupt change to the Rollin Family, ending a period where, according to Frances Rollin, “free people of color were at the zenith of their prosperity”. The Rollin family’s wealth became decimated by the Civil War, and the Rollin sisters are forced to remain in the north with family and friends. When the sisters return home, they are enthusiastically determined to embrace the new world which post-Civil War and Reconstruction brought to South Carolina.  Frances Rollin takes a teaching post at the American Missionary Association’s Freedman’s School; later, the Penn Center in Beaufort. It was during her trip to the Penn Center when the Pilot Boy incident occurred. Frances is assisted during her lawsuit by Major Martin DeLaney, the highest ranking African American soldier in the Union Army. DeLaney is so taken by Frances’ determination and abilities, that he engages her to write his biography.

In 1867, Frances Rollin travels to Boston, where she writes her book on Martin DeLaney. The book is written under the pen name “Frank A. Rollin”. While in Boston, Frances becomes acquainted with abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips, as well as intellectuals like William Nell, and Richard Greener. Kate and Lottie Rollin return to Charleston to establish a day school for colored boys and girls, which operates for only eighteen months. The sisters move to Columbia, where they teach at the Freedmen’s Bureau’s school, and pick up positions in South Carolina’s fledgling Reconstruction government, where they gain influence in the Republican controlled state.

The Civil War brought an abrupt change to the Rollin Family, ending a period where, according to Frances Rollin, “free people of color were at the zenith of their prosperity”. The Rollin family’s wealth became decimated by the Civil War, and the Rollin sisters are forced to remain in the north with family and friends. When the sisters return home, they are enthusiastically determined to embrace the new world which post-Civil War and Reconstruction brought to South Carolina.  Frances Rollin takes a teaching post at the American Missionary Association’s Freedman’s School; later, the Penn Center in Beaufort. It was during her trip to the Penn Center when the Pilot Boy incident occurred. Frances is assisted during her lawsuit by Major Martin DeLaney, the highest ranking African American soldier in the Union Army. DeLaney is so taken by Frances’ determination and abilities, that he engages her to write his biography.

In 1867, Frances Rollin travels to Boston, where she writes her book on Martin DeLaney. The book is written under the pen name “Frank A. Rollin”. While in Boston, Frances becomes acquainted with abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips, as well as intellectuals like William Nell, and Richard Greener. Kate and Lottie Rollin return to Charleston to establish a day school for colored boys and girls, which operates for only eighteen months. The sisters move to Columbia, where they teach at the Freedmen’s Bureau’s school, and pick up positions in South Carolina’s fledgling Reconstruction government, where they gain influence in the Republican controlled state.

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More in this Series

Sisterhood: SC Suffragists / Rollin Sisters--Reconstruction Through 1895

Rollin Sisters

Lesson

Grades

  • 8
Rollin Sisters

The students will learn about the importance of the Rollin Sisters in history.

 The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists 1

Video

Grades

  • 4
  • 5
  • 8
  • 11
The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists
Episode 1
Frances Rollin was propelled into the national spotlight with the Pilot Boy steamship incident, in Charleston, South Carolina, where the captain refused her service due to the color of her skin...
 The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists 3

Video

Grades

  • 4
  • 5
  • 8
  • 11
The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists
Episode 3
During this period, there were many people, including African Americans, who felt the issue of women’s suffrage was much less important than civil rights for Blacks. In the 1868 Constitutional...
 The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists 4

Video

Grades

  • 4
  • 5
  • 8
  • 11
The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists
Episode 4
The South Carolina Woman Suffrage Association was founded in Columbia in 1870, with Charlotte Rollin as the Chair. A charter is created and sent to Lucy Stone, one of the founders of the American...
 The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists 5

Video

Grades

  • 4
  • 5
  • 8
  • 11
The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists
Episode 5
The Rollin Sisters are essentially silenced after Reconstruction, and are forced to move away from South Carolina due to the increasing violence by “Red Shirts”, and Ku Klux Klan members. In the fight...