Harriette Gillem was born to Richard Avitus and Martha Gray, both teachers, on July 14, 1931, in Washington, D.C.

The author became familiar with slavery during her childhood summers in Arlington, Virginia. Until the age of thirteen, her grandfather, with his brothers and sisters, were slaves on the Virginia plantation of General Robert E. Lee. This childhood experience paved the way for the author's interest in slavery and historical fiction.

In 1953, Gillem graduated with a bachelor of science degree from the College of New Rochelle, in New York. Gillem earned her master of science (1957) and Ph.D. (1963) in microbiology from Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C. From 1953 to 1954, Gillem worked in Children's Hospital, Washington, D. C., as a bacteriologist, and then she served at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D. C., as a medical bacteriologist (1954-1957) and as a research bacteriologist...