Author #110: Maritcha as biographied by Tonya Bolden

Born in 1848, Maritcha lived in lower Manhattan  for the first part of her life. After the Draft Riots her family moved to Rhode Island.  When she reached high school there was no where for her to go to school.  Maritcha spoke before the Rhode Island state legislature at the age of 16 to petition them to grant that she be allowed to attend the Girls' Department of Providence High.  Her plea was granted.  In her compositions she often wrote about slavery, the Draft Riots, the Civil War and the Underground Railroad.  A teacher questioned the sincerity of the pieces and their authenticity-suggesting that Maritcha had used her imagination.  "'The half has never been told.' was Maritcha's typical terse response."  Maritcha later became a teacher.  Maritcha: A Nineteenth -Century American Girl  was written by Tonya Bolden after she read Maritcha's memoir written after Maritcha retired as an Assistant Principal in Brooklyn, New York.