Jean Fagan Yellin, a distinguished historian known for her extensive research into the life of Harriet Jacobs, a formerly enslaved woman who wrote a groundbreaking autobiography, passed away on July 19 at the age of 92. Yellin’s son, Michael Yellin, confirmed her death.
During a lecture at Harvard University in 2004, Yellin expressed the significance of Jacobs’s work, stating that there were only a few names of enslaved women from the 19th century that were well-known, such as Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. Yellin emphasized the rarity of Jacobs’s autobiography, as enslaved individuals were typically denied the opportunity to learn to read and write due to anti-literacy laws.
Jacobs’s book, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” originally published in 1861, provided a vivid account of her life as an enslaved woman in the American South. Born in North Carolina in 1813, Jacobs was taught to read and write by a benevolent mistress. She described her naivety about her status as a slave, until at the age of 12, she fell victim to a sexually abusive plantation owner who threatened to sell her children if she refused his advances. After many years, she managed to escape and found refuge in her free grandmother’s attic, where she spent seven years reading newspapers and the Bible. Eventually, she fled to New York as a fugitive in 1842.
Although “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” was initially published under the pseudonym Linda Brent and credited to editor Lydia Maria Child, Yellin uncovered evidence that proved Jacobs as the true author. A letter found in the archives of Smith College contained key details that matched the characters and events in Jacobs’s book, leading Yellin to discover the truth behind the autobiography.
Yellin’s biography, “Harriet Jacobs: A Life,” received critical acclaim and won prestigious awards, including the Frederick Douglass Prize and the William Sanders Scarborough Prize from the Modern Language Association.
After escaping to New York, Jacobs worked as a child nurse and continued to be considered a fugitive until the second wife of writer Nathaniel Parker Willis purchased her freedom in 1852. Jacobs, an abolitionist and advocate for women’s rights, conducted relief missions for escaped slaves behind Union lines in Virginia. She also ran a boardinghouse near Harvard from 1869 to 1873.
In later years, Jacobs moved to Washington, where she supported the impoverished widow and children of her former owner. She passed away in 1897, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy of freedom and resilience.
The discovery and rediscovery of “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” reflects the historical struggles and triumphs of Black women in literature. Yellin’s contribution to African American studies has been immensely significant, according to Henry Louis Gates Jr., who praised her work as vital to the understanding of the Black woman’s literary tradition.
Jean Fagan Yellin, born in 1930 to politically engaged parents, pursued a distinguished academic career. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt University and completed her master’s and doctorate at the University of Illinois. Yellin began teaching at Pace University in 1968 and was a respected emeritus professor of English. In 1948, she married Edward Yellin, and they co-authored the book “In Contempt: Defending Free Speech, Defeating HUAC” in 2022, which chronicled Edward’s refusal to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee about his Communist Party membership.
Aside from her son, Michael, Jean Yellin is survived by her daughter, Lisa Yellin Tebo, four grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. She also leaves behind an impressive body of work, including books like “Women and Sisters: The Anti-Slavery Feminists in American Culture” and “The Abolitionist Sisterhood: Anti-Slavery and Women’s Political Culture in Antebellum America,” which she co-authored with John C. Van Horne. Yellin’s dedication to preserving and sharing the history of formerly enslaved Black women led to her involvement in the Harriet Jacobs Papers Project, a collection of documents that shed light on this important chapter in American history.
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