“C” is for Christensen, Abbie Mandana Holmes [1852-1938]. Folklorist, educator, suffragist. A native of Massachusetts, Christensen moved to Beaufort with her abolitionist parents in 1864. After attending Mount Holyoke Female Seminary she became a pioneer in the field of African American folklore. In 1892 she published Afro-American Folk Lore as Told ‘Round Cabin Fires on the Sea Islands of South Carolina. She used the profits from the sale of the book to begin the Port Royal Agricultural School. Later Christensen became one of the first educators in the country to found a Montessori School. In 1914 she was one of the founders of the South Carolina Equal Suffrage League. Abbie Mandana Holmes Christensen was a progressive force for women’s rights, black and white education, racial tolerance, and social welfare in South Carolina from the 1890s until her death.
“C” is for Christensen, Abbie Mandana Holmes
