Our Nig

Introduction

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and R. J. Ellis

I can say with much pleasure that when the Regenerator was first applied to my own hair it was very gray, and falling from my head, and my scalp was in a very unhealthy state; but upon a few applications I discovered a decided change, and soon my hair assumed its original color and health of youth.

-Mrs. H. E. Wilson, Nashua, N.H.

Harriet E. Adams Wilson's Our Nig (1859) is the first novel written and published in English by an African American woman writer. The story Wilson tells is profoundly moving and seemingly straightforward. But this straightforwardness is deceptive: the novel, taking as its unusual focus the fate of a Northern mulatta, Alfrado (or Frado) Smith, explores in unique detail the contested position of free blacks in antebellum America, and specifically the plight of female free blacks, at what was a highly problematic time in America's racial history.

Frado is deserted as a young girl by Mag Smith, her white mother, following the death of her African American father, Jim, "a kind- hearted African," and Mag's subsequent marriage to Jim's friend, Seth Shipley. The Shipleys cannot cope financially and decide to move away, resolving to leave Frado behind. They deposit Frado at the home of a white New England farming family, the Bellmonts. There she becomes their farm servant, treated harshly and derogatorily nicknamed "Our Nig." Two members of this family, Mrs. Bellmont and her daughter, Mary, sadistically mistreat Frado. The males of the Bellmont household and a maiden aunt, Aunt Abby, voice their support for her and sometimes even attempt to protect her but fail to assist her in any meaningful way, for lack of will and courage.

The novel depicts Frado's progress in learning to defend herself from this harsh treatment by fighting back with words and actions and finding her voice. After years of mistreatment, Frado completes her period of service and is allowed to leave. Wilson

Harriet E. Wilson (1825 1900) was born in New Hampshire, where she worked from a young age as a servant to an abusive family. 

P. Gabrielle Foreman, a MacArthur Fellow, is a professor of American literature, African American studies, and history at Pennsylvania State University, where she is also the founding co-director of the Center for Black Digital Research/#DigBlk.

Reginald Pitts is a historical researcher and genealogist with more than twenty years experience.

" The landmark research and skillful criticism done by Foreman and Pitts should shape discussion of Our Nig for years to come."
-African American Review