Sarah Grimke was born on a South Carolina plantation. In the late 1820’s she and her sister Angelina moved to Philadelphia after rejecting the institution of slavery. In 1835 Angelina wrote a letter that was published in the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator. She and Sarah each published anti-slavery pamphlets. These pamphlets were publicly burned in South Carolina, and the sisters were warned not to return home. They were among the first women to lecture publicly; however they were severely criticized for speaking out. Sarah’s book Letters on the Equality of the Sexes linked the rights of women and the rights of slaves, as well as defining the difference between gender and sex. Her struggle for abolition and suffrage continued until her death in December 1873.

 

 

Works Cited:

• Article is excerpted from a NWHM Fall 2004 Newsletter
• PHOTO: Digital History

 

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