Charlotte "Lotti" Rollins

Charlotte “Lottie” Rollins

I was born in 1849 to a free wealthy Black family in Charleston, South Carolina. Education was
important to my parents and they sent my four sisters and me to attend schools in the North. After
the war, my sister Katherine and I opened and taught at a school for freed people in Charleston. I
wanted to pass the benefits of education on to newly freed Black men and women.

I became well known as a clerk in the office of a South Carolina congressman.
My sisters and I ran a gather place known as the “Republican Headquarters,”
and used our political influence to fight for equal rights. I loved the poetry of
Lord Byron and believed in his verse that those “who would be free,
themselves must strike the blow.” For me, a Black woman, this meant I must
fight for full suffrage (voting rights) and political rights for women. When my sisters and I were interviewed by the New York Herald because of our political influence, I proposed the Republican Party run me for vice president in the upcoming
election.

In 1869, I went before the South Carolina House of Representatives to make my case for women’s
suffrage. In 1870, I organized the first women’s rights convention in South Carolina and formed the
South Carolina Women’s Rights Association. At a speech during a Women’s Rights convention in 1870,
I declared, “We ask for suffrage not as a favor, not as a privilege, but as a right based on the grounds
that we are human beings and as such entitled to all human rights.” The following year I led a rally at the
state capitol demanding women’s suffrage and in 1872, I was chosen as a delegate to the national
convention of the American Woman Suffrage Association.

Although I was able to convince several white and Black Republicans to fight to amend the state
constitution to give women the right to vote, the measure proved too controversial. After a heated
debate in the legislature, which even included a fistfight, women’s suffrage was defeated.

Open Ended

What is a clerk? Look up the word.  Where did Charlotte work as a clerk?

Open Ended

Do you think that Charlotte would agree with the statement that “slaves should rise up and revolt for their freedom? Hint: Look at the line she quotes from Lord Byron because she agreed with him.

Open Ended

What is suffrage?  Use your computer to find a definition.

Open Ended

What types of social causes did Charlotte support during his life? What changes did he want to bring to society?

Open Ended

Do you think that Charlotte lived an impressive life?  Why or why not?  Use evidence from the reading to support your answer.