Nancy Gardner Prince facts for kids

Nancy Gardner Prince (born September 15, 1799 – died around 1859) was an African-American woman. She was born free in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Nancy Prince wrote a book about her exciting travels to Russia and Jamaica. Her book, called A Narrative of The Life And Travels of Mrs. Nancy Prince, was published in 1850. It shares her unique experiences in the 1800s.

Nancy Prince's Early Life

Nancy Gardner Prince's early family life is not fully known. Her father, Thomas Gardner, was a sailor from Nantucket. He died when Nancy was a baby.

Her mother then raised her and later had seven more children. To help the family, Nancy and her siblings sold berries. As she grew older, Nancy worked as a servant for white families.

Marriage and Life in Russia

Nancy Gardner met Nero Prince in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 1, 1823. Nero Prince was an important leader in the Prince Hall Freemasons in Boston. He had originally come from Russia.

Nancy and Nero married on February 15, 1824. Soon after, they traveled to Russia. In Russia, Nancy opened a boarding house and made clothes for babies. Her husband, Nero, worked for Czar Alexander I in St. Petersburg.

Adventures in Russia and Jamaica

Nancy Prince's book tells about her life in the Russian courts of Czar Alexander I and Czar Nicholas I. She lived there starting in 1824. She wrote about many Russian customs and events she saw. These included funerals, holiday parties, and even royal coronations.

She also witnessed big historical events in Russia. She saw the terrible Flood of 1824. She also experienced the St. Petersburg cholera outbreak. Nancy was even there during the Decembrist Revolution.

In 1840, Nancy Prince went on two trips to Jamaica. She went because black people in Jamaica had recently become free in 1838. Abolitionists like W. L. Garrison and Lucretia Mott supported this freedom. In Jamaica, Nancy worked in Kingston with church leaders. She helped raise money for a school for Jamaican girls. This school would teach them skills for free.

Her travels also led her to meet the Jamaican Maroons in Flagstaff. These were people who had returned to Jamaica. They had been sent away to Sierra Leone after the Second Maroon War in 1795-96.

Nancy Prince's Later Life and Legacy

After returning from Russia, Nancy Prince opened an orphanage for black children in Boston. She also had a sewing shop. She gave talks about her travels to Russia and Jamaica.

Nancy Prince also helped the Anti-Slavery Society. This group worked to end slavery. She attended their meetings and fought against the Fugitive Slave Act. She also went to at least one Women's Rights Convention. Nancy Prince died on November 6, 1859. She was buried in Everett, Massachusetts.

Nancy Prince's book, A Narrative of The Life And Travels of Mrs. Nancy Prince, is her most famous work. In her book, she shares her thoughts on the world. She does this through the eyes of an African-American woman of her time. She compared the cultures she visited to her own experiences in America. Because of her book, Nancy Gardner Prince is important in African-American literature. Her writing combines travel stories, autobiographies, and slave narratives into one unique book.

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