Josephine D. Heard

Photo of Josephine D. Heard.jpg

Josephine Delphine Henderson Heard
File:Photo of Josephine D. Heard.jpg
Born	Josephine Delphine Henderson 1864 Salisbury, North Carolina
Died	1924 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)	Poet, Educator
Spouse	William Henry Heard ​ (m. 1882)​

Josephine Delphine Henderson Heard (October 11, 1864–October 21, 1924) was born the daughter of two enslaved parents in Salisbury, North Carolina. Her father was Lafayette Henderson. She was a teacher, poet and wife of an AME Church minister.

Life

After slavery ended a goal was set for her to become a teacher. She married William Henry Heard at age 21 in 1882. She held teaching positions in many cities as she traveled with her husband, who was prominent in the AME Church. Her joy in teaching is reflected in the preface of her 1890 volume of poetry entitled Morning Glories. She wrote “from a heart that desires to encourage and inspire the youth of the Race.” The work contained seventy-two original poems by her. It was revised and expanded in 1891. Additional insight into her life is provided by her husband wrote in his memoir, “She is scholarly and poetic, and her use of the English language, as well as the criticism of my sermons, have done much in making me the preacher they say I am."

She died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, around 1921.

Heard's poem "Black Sampson" as included in the anthology She Wields a Pen: American Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century edited by Janet Gray.

References

• Josephine D. Heard. Notable Black American Women (1992) Gale Biography in Content (Web 13 Sep 2012).

Further reading

• Heard, Josephine Delphine Henderson. Morning Glories. New York: The Digital Schomburg, The New York Public Library. File number 1997wwm9710.sgm. 1997.