Angelina Lily Grinke Biography

Angelina Emily Grimké was baptized with her sister Sarah, holding her in her arms. She had pledged that she would protect and be an active part in her sister’s upbringing, which she in turn was. Angelina was nicknamed “Nina” and became very close to her older sister. As a child, she was seen as inquisitive, rebellious and outspoken, which was often looked down upon by her traditionalist friends and family. Considered a beauty, Angelina had many suitors who had offered her hand in marriage, but she refused, stating that she could not get along well with people. While unfazed most of times about what people thought of her, she was sheltered for most of her life. Angelina’s first encounter with the barbarousness of slavery was when a slave child

Physic. He asked the then twenty-six years old, Sarah, to travel with him. She had never stepped foot outside of South Carolina. He could sense he was dying and with his daughter he felt he could face death without wearing a mask. Her father’s illness and death marked a turning point in Sarah’s life. She was the sole witness to her father’s long illness and final death. He died later and was buried in a town on the shore of New Jersey. While she mourned the death of her father, she also beauty in her surroundings. She was a new city, Philadelphia, where she realized there was world much greater than her narrow town of Charleston. Dr. Physic had set her up with a Quaker family where they brought to them new religious ideas of spiritually equality among men and women, religious thoughts, and woman could be preachers. This opened a door a new religious faith for her, one that she was extremely curious about. Within months of her returning to Charleston, she had a mental breakdown that left her unable to do anything. Her mother sent her to North Carolina where she began learning more about Quakers and she soon