Harriette Gillem Robinet
Robinet_Harriette__Gillem.jpg
Harriett Gillem Robinet was born and raised in Washington, D. C. She spent her childhood summers in Arlington, Virginia, where her mother’s father had been a slave under General Robert E. Lee. A graduate from the College of New Rochelle, in New Rochelle, New York, she received graduate degrees in microbiology from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. r r She began writing after moving to Chicago and after the birth of a son with cerebral palsy. The main character of ”Jay and the Marigold” suffers from cerebral palsy. Her first two books were influenced by meeting other handicapped children and adults, who ‘have shared some of their anger, dreams, and victories.’ Her later books are historical fiction based around American historical events, such as the Chicago fire, the Battle of 1812, the emancipation of the slaves during and after the U.S. Civil War, and the Montgomery, Alabama and the bus boycott of 1956. Her books ‘portray likeable children and adults, with their needs and struggles, against a pivotal time in American history.’r r She received the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s Fuller Award at a ceremony on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. She was the 14th person inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.
Children of the Fire | Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule | Other Awards | The Twins, The Pirates, and the Battle of New Orleans | Walking to the Bus Rider Blues | Washington City is Burning
Children of the Fire | Forty acres and maybe a mule / | If you please, President Lincoln / | Jay and the Marigold | Missing from Haymarket Square | Mississippi chariot | Ride the red cycle / | The twins, the pirates, and the Battle of New Orleans | Twelve Travelers, Twenty Horses | Walking to the bus-rider blues / | Washington City is burning /