The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists - Episode 2

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.

Standards

• 8-5 The student will understand the impact of Reconstruction, industrialization, and Progressivism on society and politics in South Carolina in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
  • During the periods of Reconstruction, industrial expansion, and the Progressive movement, South Carolina searched for ways to revitalize its economy while maintaining its traditional society. To understand South Carolina’s experience as represen...
    • 8-5.8 Compare the Progressive movement in South Carolina with the national Progressive movement, including the impact on temperance; women’s suffrage; labor laws; and educational, agricultural, health, and governmental reform.
• USHC-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the industrial development and the consequences of that development on society and politics during the second half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries.
  • Political democracy depends upon the active participation of individuals working through political and economic-interest groups to protect their welfare. To understand how groups in the past have protected their rights, the student will utilize the kn...
    • USHC-4.6 Compare the accomplishments and limitations of the women’s suffrage movement and the Progressive Movement in affecting social and political reforms in America, including the roles of the media and of reformers such as Carrie Chapman Catt...
• USHC.3.CE Assess the causes and effects of significant turning points in the Populist and Progressive era from 1877–1924.
• This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into the causes of American expansion, such as a growing and diversifying population and the expansion of the plantation economy. This indicator promotes inquiry into the relationship between sectionalism and political compromise, culminating in the Civil War.
  • This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into how technology fostered the growth of the cotton industry, the factory system, and urban centers. In addition, this indicator facilitates inquiry into how the Abolitionist Movement and Women&rsquo
• 8.3 Demonstrate an understanding of conflict and compromise in South Carolina, the Southern region, and the United States as a result of sectionalism between the period 1816–1865.
  • 8.3.CC
• 4.5.E Analyze multiple perspectives of the economic, political, and social effects of Reconstruction on different populations in the South and in other regions of the U.S.
• This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into founding principles as viewed through this period of federal government involvement, the development and realignment of a new labor system not based on a system of slavery, and the significant political realignment of the South.
  • This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into how Reconstruction resulted in the foundation for the struggle for civil rights. This indicator was also developed to foster inquiry into Reconstruction Era policies such as Constitutional amendme
• 4.4.CC Identify and evaluate the economic, political, and social changes experienced throughout the Civil War.
• 4.4.P Explain how emancipation was achieved as a result of civic participation.