Harriette Gillem Robinet

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Harriette Gillem Robinet Biography

Harriette Gillem Robinet’s grandfather was Robert E. Lee’s slave until the age of thirteen. When Robinet was a young child, her father would sit on the porch in the summer and tell her stories and encourage her to write every day. Those early experiences indelibly shaped Robinet’s later work. After her fifth child was born with cerebral palsy, Robinet realized that there were no books that he could relate to as an African American child with a disability, so she began writing some. Her first book was Jay and the Marigold in 1976, which she followed with Ride the Red Cycle in 1980. Not an author to be pigeonholed, Robinet also writes historical fiction.

Facts and Trivia

  • Robinet has a unique method for creating characters. She uses a personality chart with sixteen separate traits to make her characters real.
  • Robinet worked as a microbiologist until the birth of her first child. She then wrote articles for several different journals while at home with her children.
  • African Americans were not welcome in public libraries in Virginia and Washington, D.C., where Robinet grew up. She got a library card at the age of thirteen and remembers being followed through the library by suspicious staff members.
  • Robinet’s husband was the first editor of many of her books.
  • Robinet’s advice to budding writers is to always keep a journal handy and write as often as possible.

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Harriette Gillem Robinet, inspired by the rich tapestry of family lore, weaves African-American history into the fabric of her fictional tales. Born on July 14, 1931, in the heart of Washington D.C., she emerged from a lineage of educators—Richard Avitus and Martha (Gray) Gillem. Growing up in Virginia, Robinet was nurtured in a Roman Catholic household. Summers at Arlington, Virginia, offered playful escapes near the very plantation where her paternal grandfather had once been enslaved under Robert E. Lee. It was her great-aunt Anice who illuminated her youth with vivid tales of hardship intertwined with joy, recounting the clever escapades of slaves outsmarting their captors. These powerful oral histories became the bedrock for Robinet's later literary creations.

Childhood brought with it the cruel sting of segregation for Robinet, leaving an indelible mark on her formative years. She endured the indignity of riding segregated buses, often forced to relinquish her seat to white passengers, and faced harassment in public libraries and white neighborhoods, especially when seeking a shortcut home during rain-soaked days. A haunting image of a lynching in Virginia left an imprint on her soul, profoundly influencing her journey as a writer.

An Academic Journey

Graduating with distinction from Washington D.C.'s Dunbar High School, Robinet embarked on a scholarly path at the College of New Rochelle in New York. Her academic pursuits diverged from the conventional path of many children's authors, delving into the microscopic world of microbiology. By 1953, she had secured her bachelor's degree and continued her quest for knowledge at the Catholic University of America, achieving a master's in science by 1957 and a doctorate five years later. Her initial foray into the professional world saw her as a bacteriologist at Washington D.C.'s Children's Hospital before transitioning to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

From 1957 to 1958, Robinet took on the role of a biology instructor at Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here, the specter of segregation loomed large, preventing her from freely exploring library stacks and confining her to the "Colored" section of buses. Encounters with students' stories of black southern life enriched her understanding and lent authenticity to her fiction. This period of her life in the Deep South became a reservoir of inspiration, feeding factual details into her compelling narratives.

Family and Career

On August 6, 1960, Harriette Gillem wed McLouis Joseph Robinet, and together they settled in Oak Park, Illinois. Here, she dedicated two years as a civilian food bacteriologist with the United States Army Quartermaster Corps, while her husband contributed as a health physicist at the Argonne National Laboratory. Their family blossomed with six children.

Literary Contributions

Politically aligned with the Democrats, Robinet also finds solace amidst the petals of her beloved orchids, as a member of the American Orchid Society. Her literary passion found its initial expression in 1976 with the publication of her first children's book, Jay and the Marigold, inspired by her son with cerebral palsy. Four years hence, Ride the Red Cycle emerged, and she ventured into adult science fiction with a manuscript titled Microbes of Gold. The 1990s marked her foray into young adult novels.

Robinet's stories elegantly dance through history, predominantly featuring African American characters and the enduring themes of liberty and emancipation. Fire and war frequently symbolize the tumultuous transformations her characters undergo. Many of her narratives unfold as mysteries, where Robinet deftly humanizes history, offering tales that entertain while enlightening. Despite the occasional didactic tone, her books, articles, and magazine contributions showcase her commitment to both education and storytelling.

Accolades and Achievements

Her literary prowess has not gone unnoticed. Robinet...

(This entire section contains 745 words.)

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has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including the Notable Books in Social Studies Award and the 1991 Friends of American Writers Young Peoples Literature Award. Her work has also been recognized with the Carl Sandburg Award and the Society of Midland Authors' 1998 Award for Children's Literature. The year 1998 saw her book,Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule, honored with the Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award. Furthermore, Walking to the Bus-Rider Blues earned a nomination for a 2001 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best juvenile mystery.

In preparation for writing Walking to the Bus-Rider Blues, Robinet ventured to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1997, immersing herself in the local history and climatic conditions as her characters would have experienced. Although the city had since transformed with modern expansions, Robinet's keen eye envisioned the foundational elements of Montgomery during the tense narrative of the bus boycott, allowing her to recreate Alfa's world with authenticity and depth.

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