Mary S. Parker

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Mary S. Parker was born into a middle-class family in New Hampshire in 1801.[1] She was raised as an evangelical Presbyterian, which she remained over the course of her life.[2] With her two sisters Lucy and Eliza, Mary moved to Boston, where they opened a boarding house.[1] She never married and relied on the success of her boarding house for income.[3]Their house saw guests such as William Lloyd Garrison, an important abolitionist and women's rights advocate.[3]

Mary became a respected abolitionist herself.[3] In 1834, she joined the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, an organization that advocated for the emancipation of slaves in the United States.[4] She served as its president from 1835 to 1840.[5] [6]On May 9, 1837, she was elected president of the first anti-slavery convention of American women, held in Philadelphia.[4]

Intense internal battles divided the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, however.[7] As abolitionist and women's rights advocate William Lloyd Garrison gained support, Parker and various other members found his views too radical and detrimental to the society's original objective.[7] In April 1840 the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society ceased to exist. Mary Parker, Lucy Bell, Mary Bell, and other members of the BFASS, formed the Massachusetts Female Emancipation Society,[2] which became the society for middle class, evangelical women who desired to instill the religious and domestic duties required of women towards the abolition of slavery in Boston.[7] This Society did not experience the same success as the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society and eventually disbanded in 1845.[7]

[7] [2]

At the end of 1840, Parker left Boston for New Hampshire and joined the American Moral Reform Society.[8]The American Moral Reform Society was established in 1834 and advocated for the end of slavery, corruption, and war in the United States. They also emphasized the importance of education and universal liberty. [9]

Parker caught lung fever and passed away on July 23, 1841 at the age of 39.[1]


Women's Involvement in the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society:

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Background

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  • After the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women in 1838, which was subject to heavy mob violence, women began serving in predominantly male emancipation committees.[10] Then in 1839, after the third Anti-slavery Convention of American Women, women displayed interest in attending meetings at the American Anti-Slavery Society, which was seen as a predominantly male society.[10] Towards the end of the 1830s William Lloyd Garrison, an important member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, took a radical stance on women's involvement within the society. He advocated for equality between the sexes and supported women taking on a leading role within the society.[11] Over time, women made up the majority of the AAS and began serving on high ranked positions within the society. Most notably, Abby Kelly was elected to the Business Committee, which threatened many of the male members. Over three hundred men, discouraged by her newfound power, walked out of the meeting in protest.[10] They then formed the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.[10]

American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society

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  • After the election of Abby Kelly in the AASS, the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society prohibited women from receiving high ranking positions.
  • Although women could not make any legal decisions they were still deemed necessary and were encouraged to advocate for emancipation.[12]
  • Women, who feared the radicalization of the American Anti-Slavery Society, sought comfort in the AFASS.[11]
  • Most importantly, however, it caught the attention and ultimately support of women in Britain who did not see eye-to-eye with the AASS.[11]

Important Female Figures

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  • Harriet Martineau - an English writer and social theorist, played an important role in emancipation.[13] She helped aid women in the United States and abroad to join antislavery societies occupied by men. Martineau encouraged women to take a social and political stance against slavery.[10]
  • Abby Kelly - An advocate for women's rights and emancipation, Kelly became a central figure in the AAS. In 1840, after intense debate, she got elected to serve on the society's business committee with a vote of 571-451.[14][10] This marked as a significant turning point for women's rights.[10]
  • Lucretia Mott - An abolitionist and advocate of women's rights. She was a member of the The American Anti-Slavery Society's smaller organization in Philadelphia and served on their executive branch.[15] She later helped establish the Female Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia.[16]
  • Susan Brownell Anthony - An abolitionist and founder of the Women's National Loyal League and cofounder of the American Equal Rights Association.[17]
  • Eliza Barney - She was an abolitionist and served as the State Delegate to the AAS in 1839.[17]
  • Sarah G Buffum - From Fall River, Massachusetts. She was an abolitionist and served as the American Anti-Slavery Society's state delegate.[17]
  • Hannah Buffum - Lived in Lynn, Massachusetts. She was an abolitionist and served as a state delegate for the American Anti-Slavery Society.[17]
  1. ^ a b c Ruchames, Louis (1971). The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison: A House Divided Against Itself 1836-1840. The Belknop Press of Harvard University Press.
  2. ^ a b c Jeffrey Roy, Julie (2012). "The Liberty Women of Boston: Evangelicalism and Antislavery Politics". The New England Quarterly. 85: 38–77 – via JSTOR.
  3. ^ a b c Jeffrey Roy, Julie (1998). The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism: Ordinary Women in the Anti-Slavery Society. University of North Carolina. p. 43.
  4. ^ a b Zaeske, Susan (2003). Signatures of Citizenship: Petitioning, Antislavery, and Women's Political Position. University of North Carolina Press.
  5. ^ Boylan M, Anne (2002). The Origins of Women's Activism: New York and Boston, 1797-1840. University of North Carolina Press. p. 57.
  6. ^ Yellin Fagan, Jean (2003). The Abolitionist Sisterhood: Women's Political Culture in Antebellum America. Cornell University Press. pp. 43, 174.
  7. ^ a b c d e Jeffrey Roy, Julie (2012). "The Liberty Women of Boston: Evangelicalism and Antislavery Politics". The New England Quarterly. 85: 38–77 – via JSTOR.
  8. ^ Massachusetts Female Emancipation Society (1841). Star of Emancipation. Massachusetts Female Emancipation Society. pp. 74, 75, 76.
  9. ^ Bell H, Howard (1958). "The American Moral Reform Society 1834-1841". The Journal of Negro Education. 27: 34–40 – via JSTOR.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Anderson S, Bonnie (2000). Joyous Greetings: The First International Women's Movement, 1830-1860. Oxford University Press. pp. 124, 125, 126.
  11. ^ a b c Rodriguez P., Junius (2015). Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World. Routledge. pp. 27, 28.
  12. ^ Jeffrey Roy., Julie (1998). The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism: Ordinary Women in the Anti-Slavery Society. University of North Carolina Press. p. 1.
  13. ^ "Harriet Martineau Biography". biography.com.
  14. ^ "The American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society" (PDF). Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Retrieved Dec 1 2016. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  15. ^ Rodriguez P., Junius (2015). Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World. Routledge. p. 29.
  16. ^ Unger C., Nancy (February 2000). "Mott, Lucreta Coffin". American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved Tuesday, November 29 2016. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  17. ^ a b c d Saul, Eric (July 17, 2016). "American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society". American Abolitionist and Anti-Slavery Activists: Conscience of the Nation. AmericanAbolitionist.com. Retrieved Dec 1 2016. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)