Harriet Alfarata Chapman Thompson was an American author and library professional active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in Albany, New York, to African-American parents, she grew up in a family that valued education; her older sister Arabella was the first African-American graduate of Albany High School, from which Harriet herself graduated in 1889. Following her secondary education, she attended the Albany Business College to prepare for a professional career.
Thompson spent much of her professional life working at the New York State Library under the direction of Melvil Dewey. She dedicated years of service to the institution, eventually rising to the position of head stenographer of the catalogue department before her retirement in August 1921. Shortly after retiring, she married John W. Thompson in September 1921. She passed away the following year in June 1922 while visiting family in Massachusetts.
Thompson's literary legacy rests on her single novel, Idealia: A Utopia Dream; Or, Resthaven, which was published posthumously by her husband in 1922. The short work belongs to the utopian fiction genre of the era, depicting a compassionate and structured community designed to support vulnerable populations, including the elderly, orphans, and people with disabilities. Through this work, Thompson contributed a unique perspective to early twentieth-century social reform literature.
