Black Background & Cultural Point Of Views:
- Corinne Bailey Rae discovered Harriet Jacobs at 14, visited Edenton, and wrote the song Peach Velvet Sky about her.
- Harriet Jacobs resisted sexual abuse by Dr James Norcom, hid for years in a three-foot crawlspace, and risked losing her children.
- She secretly learned to read and write, authored a powerful narrative, and became, for Corinne Bailey Rae, a symbol of resilience.
In profile
Harriet Jacobs was an African-American abolitionist that was best understood for her memoir, Occurrences in the Life of a Servant Girl (1861, initially released under a pseudonym. Forced to go into hiding after being sexually bugged when she was shackled, she got away North Carolina for the ‘cost-free North’ and founded 2 schools for other refugees southern. A mother-of-two, she died aged around 84
When did you first become aware of Jacobs?
When I was 14 my aunt sent me a compilation of Afro-American standards, among which was written by Harriet– it truly struck home with me.
What kind of female was she?
Harriet was birthed right into enslavement in Edenton, North Carolina. When her initial proprietor passed away, she was bestowed to the female’s three-year-old niece, Mary Matilda Norcom. Nevertheless, Mary’s medical professional papa, Dr James Norcom, became her de facto proprietor and she continuously had to battle his sex-related breakthroughs. I’m sure numerous ladies in her footwear would have felt their situation was hopeless. Yet she took place to have kids of her own with one more white male, that later ended up being a politician, out of union. She was an established female, with a powerful feeling of right and incorrect, and inevitably managed to come to be a totally free female.
What made Jacobs a hero?
Her refusal to succumb to Norcom’s vile sexual breakthroughs. When this ogre threatened to market her children into slavery unless she bent to his will, she fled and invested the following seven years concealing in a 3 ft-high attic under a stockroom roof covering adjacent to her granny’s home. She arranged for her youngsters to deal with their great-grandmother, but could only glimpse them with a crack in the roofing of her garret ‘prison’. It was just after leaving to the north in 1842, with the assistance of anti-slavery protestors, that she was reunited with her children.
She experienced so much tragedy in her life. For instance, she loved a cost-free black guy that intended to get her liberty and wed her, but Norcom restricted her continuing the connection.
What was Jacobs’ finest hour?
First, revealing such toughness, bravery and self-belief while being cooped up in this ‘crawl room’ for all those years– being unable to work out for as long left her with illness and afterwards she strolled with a limp. I was so moved by her circumstances that I went to Edenton and wrote a tune, ‘Peach Velvet Sky’, regarding her. Second, composing her powerful narrative– she found out to check out and create as a kid yet kept it secret.
Exists anything that you don’t especially appreciate about her?
No. I think she was a completely remarkable lady!
Can you see any parallels between Jacobs’ life and your own?
Her story assisted offer me an insight right into the lives of the ancestors on my papa’s side. They were additionally enslaved people, probably dealing with sugar vineyards in St Kitts.
What would you ask Jacobs if you could meet her?
I want to understand what being refuted the chance to wed the cost-free African-American guy she liked did to her as a person, and how she made it through being divided from her kids for so long.
Corinne Bailey Rae is a British singer-songwriter. She covered the charts with her self-titled debut cd, which she will be carrying out at the Royal Albert Hall on 27 October. Her initial children’s publication, Place Your Records On , is out now
This article was first released in the August 2026 issue of HistoryExtra Magazine
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