Frank J. Webb
Frank J. Webb was an African American author born and raised in Philadelphia, known primarily for his novel *The Garies and Their Friends*, published in 1857. This work is notable for being the second novel published by an African American, following William Wells Brown's *Clotel* and preceding other significant works in the genre. Webb's novel is groundbreaking, as it explores themes of middle-class African American life, black pride, interracial marriage, and the experiences of free blacks in the North before the Civil War. His influence extended beyond fiction; he contributed to several periodicals, including *Freedom's Journal*, the first African American newspaper. Webb's literary contributions were recognized posthumously, as *The Garies and Their Friends* regained attention in the late 20th century, marking him as an important figure in American literary history. Despite limited biographical details and years during which his work was largely forgotten, Webb's legacy as a progenitor of the African American novel remains significant.
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Frank J. Webb
Writer
- Born: 1828
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Died: 1884
Biography
Little information about Frank J. Webb’s life is available. Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author and abolitionist, describes Webb in the preface to his only published novel, The Garies and Their Friends (1857), as “a coloured young man, born and reared in the city of Philadelphia.” Webb’s book is the second novel published by an African American. It was published in London four years after William Wells Brown’s Clotel: Or, The President’s Daughter (1853) and two years prior to the 1859 publication of Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig and Martin Delany’s Blake.
The Garies and Their Friends takes place in Philadelphia prior to the Civil War and is the first African American novel to portray free blacks who reside in the North, as well as middle-class African American life, black pride, interracial marriage, and blacks passing as whites. One year after the novel’s publication, Charlotte L. Forten, an essayist and educator, mentions Webb in her journal that remained unpublished until 1953. In her entry dated Monday, March 1, 1858, Forten comments that Webb had been appointed a postmaster in Jamaica, and she assumes that Webb’s wife, Annie, will go to Jamaica with him. The Liberator, in an item dated March 5, 1858, announces Webb’s appointment in Kingston, Jamaica, and the Webbs’ return to Philadelphia after an extended visit to southern France due to Annie Webb’s poor health; The Liberator adds she had to stop her readings for which she was noted.
Webb was also associated with two periodicals. Decades earlier, he worked as an agent for Freedom’s Journal, the first African American newspaper in the United States, published from 1827 to 1829. During the 1870’s, The New Era: A Colored American National Journal published Webb’s two short stories, “Two Wolves and a Lamb” and “Marvin Hayle;” three essays, “International Exhibition,” “The Mixed School Question,” and “An Old Foe with a New Face;” as well as poem, “None Spoke a Single Word to Me.” The Garies and Their Friends remains Webb’s most important work and is a landmark publication in American literary history. Although it remained out of print until 1969 and was not published in paperback format until 1997, Webb is acknowledged as a progenitor of the African American novel.