Octavia V. Rogers Albert
Encyclopedia
Octavia V. Rogers Albert (December 24, 1853 – c.1890) was a chronicler of slavery in the United States. She was born Octavia Victoria Rogers in Oglethorpe, Georgia
, where she lived in slavery
until the Emancipation
. She attended Atlanta University where she studied to be a teacher.
Unlike many others, Octavia Rogers saw teaching as a form of worship and Christian service. She received her first teaching job in Montezuma, Georgia
. In 1874, at around twenty-one years old, she married another teacher, A.E.P. Albert, who later became an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church
. Not too long after the two married they relocated to Houma, Louisiana
. Here Octavia began conducting interviews with men and women who were once enslaved. These interviews were the raw material for her collection of narratives, The House of Bondage, or Charlotte Brooks and Other Slaves, published in 1890. Octavia Victoria Rogers Albert died before The House of Bondage became widely known.
Oglethorpe, Georgia
Oglethorpe is a city in Macon County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,200 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Macon County. It was named for Georgia's founder, James Oglethorpe. Oglethorpe was once one of the largest cities in Georgia, and by the 1850s, was tagged as...
, where she lived in slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
until the Emancipation
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
. She attended Atlanta University where she studied to be a teacher.
Unlike many others, Octavia Rogers saw teaching as a form of worship and Christian service. She received her first teaching job in Montezuma, Georgia
Montezuma, Georgia
Montezuma is a city in Macon County, Georgia . The population was 3,999 at the 2000 census. It is home to the armory of Bravo Company, 648th Engineers of the Georgia Army National Guard.-History:...
. In 1874, at around twenty-one years old, she married another teacher, A.E.P. Albert, who later became an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
. Not too long after the two married they relocated to Houma, Louisiana
Houma, Louisiana
Houma is a city in and the parish seat of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, and the largest principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's powers of government have been absorbed by the parish, which is now run by the Terrebonne Parish...
. Here Octavia began conducting interviews with men and women who were once enslaved. These interviews were the raw material for her collection of narratives, The House of Bondage, or Charlotte Brooks and Other Slaves, published in 1890. Octavia Victoria Rogers Albert died before The House of Bondage became widely known.
External links
- The House of Bondage, or, Charlotte Brooks and Other Slaves, Original and Life-Like, As They Appeared in Their Old Plantation and City Slave Life complete text of original 1890 edition, along with cover & title page images.