Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins was born in Portland, Maine, in 1859, and would become a prolific, and pioneering African-American writer, artist, and journalist. A recently published critical biography of Hopkins, by Mount Holyoke College English professor Lois Brown, details some of Hopkins' early life, and her family's ties to 18th century New England. Brown will speak tonight night at the Maine Historical Society in Portland.

Lois Brown's (left) biography "Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins: Black Daughter of the Revolution," is credited with revealing new details about origins of Hopkins family, and, in particular, Hopkin's father, Benjamin Northrop, who came from Rhode Island.