Born: 1 October 1859, United States
Died: 23 November 1941
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Clarissa Minnie Thompson
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Clarissa Minnie Thompson Allen was a renowned author known for her tales of affluent African-American families in the South.
Clarissa Minnie Thompson was born in Columbia, South Carolina, one of nine children of Eliza Henrietta Montgomery and Samuel Benjamin Thompson. She received her education at Howard Junior High School and a local normal school in South Carolina. Her teaching career spanned several schools, including Allen University, where she instructed in subjects such as algebra, Latin, physical geology, and history.
Around 1886, she moved to Jefferson, Texas, where she continued teaching in the public school system. She also lived in Ft. Worth, Texas, and worked in the public school system.
Allen’s writing focused on the lives of affluent African-American families in the Southern United States. Her most notable work, “Treading the Winepress” or “A Mountain of Misfortune,” contained 41 stories about two families set in a place inspired by Columbia, South Carolina, called “Capitolia.” The book explored themes of love triangles, murder, womanhood, charity, and madness. It was serialized and believed to be the first novel by an African-American woman from South Carolina.
In addition to her novels, Clarissa Minnie Thompson wrote novelettes for Texas-based publications, and her poetry was published in African-American newspapers. Some critics interpreted her work as critical of religion, particularly the African Methodist Episcopal Church.