[4] Indicating that the author was educated and well-read, Collins referenced Alexander Pope, William Shakespeare, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and classical antiquity in her essays.
In the April 16, 1864 issue, Enoch Gilchrist announced that Julia Collins was appointed as schoolteacher for the African-American children in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
[6] The story abruptly ends just as the plot reaches the climax and resolution, as Collins died of tuberculosis in November 1865, leaving the novel unfinished.
[1][6] In 2006, Oxford University Press published the novel, including an introduction and two alternative endings written by the editors Mitch Kachun and William Andrews.
The essays are titled: "Mental Improvement", "School Teaching", "Intelligent Women", "A Letter from Oswego: Originality of Ideas", "Life is Earnest", and "Memory and Imagination".
[6] Mitch Kachun, associate professor of history at Western Michigan University, "rediscovered" The Curse of Caste while searching through the microfilm collection of the Christian Recorder.
[8] During a presentation at Saginaw Valley State University, Kachun remarked how it is unusual that Collins' characters are allowed to be married and (briefly) happy in a tumultuous America.
[9] No matter the stances on the classification of The Curse of Caste, scholars believe the novel provides significant views on racial identity, interracial romance, hidden African ancestry, and gender ideologies.
[1] Veta Smith Tucker of the African American Review states that the lack of knowledge about Collins gives scholars great opportunity for discovery and calls the piecing together of facts "literary archeology.
[10] In June 2010, a Pennsylvania State Historical Marker was installed on Williamsport’s River Walk, near the presumed site of Collins' home and school, to recognize the importance of her life and work.