Clarissa Minnie Thompson Allen of South Carolina: Educator and acclaimed novelist.

Many fine educators have also earned acclaim in fields outside of the classroom. One of these is Clarissa Allen, a teacher who made a name for herself as an author.

Clarissa Minnie Thompson Allen was born October 1, 1859, in Columbia, South Carolina. She was the eldest of nine children born to prosperous African American parents. Her father was a justice of the peace and a state legislator. As a young girl, Clarissa attended Howard Junior High School and then South Carolina State Normal School. There she gained the education required to become a teacher.

As an educator, Clarissa worked first at the Howard School. She then accepted a position as the principal of Poplar Grove School in Abbeville, South Carolina. She next taught at Allen University, where she instructed courses in algebra, Latin, history, and geology. In 1886, Clarissa moved to Jefferson, Texas, where she became a public school teacher. Later she taught public school in Fort Worth. In every position, she emphasized the importance of education for women and for the African American community.

In addition to her responsibilities in the classroom, Clarissa wrote novels about wealthy African American families in the South. Her most acclaimed novel was Treading the Winepress, which had also been published under the title A Mountain of Misfortune. The book was published in installments in the Boston Advocate. The 41 stories which comprise the book feature a setting called Capitolia, which was based on her home town of Columbia. Clarissa also wrote novelettes for publications based in Texas and poetry that was published in newspapers for the African American community.

Sadly, Clarissa passed away on November 23, 1941. To read more about the literary works of this amazing educator, see this link at the Milner Library of the University of Illinois.