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Mary Grew, abolitionist leader & newspaper editor. Her work was respected by all the men in the movement—except her own father.
Mary
back row w/the Penn. AntiSlavery Society. Margaret Burleigh, her partner of 40 years, in front. They were known as the “Burleigh-Grews.”
Thread.
Mary
back row w/the Penn. AntiSlavery Society. Margaret Burleigh, her partner of 40 years, in front. They were known as the “Burleigh-Grews.”Thread.
Mary Grew & her father Henry sailed for England to attend the World AntiSlavery Convention.
They were both delegates—but when Mary & the other women were denied their seats, her father didn’t protest.
The opposite: he said seating women violated “the ordinance of Almighty God!”
They were both delegates—but when Mary & the other women were denied their seats, her father didn’t protest.
The opposite: he said seating women violated “the ordinance of Almighty God!”
We don’t know what Mary thought of her father, whose wealth gave her the freedom not to marry.
Mary was an officer of both the Female AntiSlavery Society and the co-ed Pennsylvania AntiSlavery Society.
She edited the Pennsylvania Freeman, the abolitionist newspaper.
Mary was an officer of both the Female AntiSlavery Society and the co-ed Pennsylvania AntiSlavery Society.
She edited the Pennsylvania Freeman, the abolitionist newspaper.
When the Freeman merged with the National Anti-Slavery Standard, Mary wrote for the National as a Philadelphia correspondent.
She also wrote the Female AntiSlavery Society’s annual report every year, concluding in 1870 with a retrospective on their 37 years of work.
She also wrote the Female AntiSlavery Society’s annual report every year, concluding in 1870 with a retrospective on their 37 years of work.
From her early years as an abolitionist, Mary demanded radical and immediate change.
In 1838 she spoke at the American Women’s AntiSlavery Convention the day before their meeting hall was torched.
Mary made a controversial resolution to cut off churches that condoned slavery.
In 1838 she spoke at the American Women’s AntiSlavery Convention the day before their meeting hall was torched.
Mary made a controversial resolution to cut off churches that condoned slavery.
“RESOLVED, That it is our duty to keep ourselves separate from those churches which receive to their pulpits and their communion tables those who buy, sell, or hold as property, the image of the living God.”
It passed narrowly. Years later the larger movement took this position.
It passed narrowly. Years later the larger movement took this position.
Abolitionists were trying to convince white Northerners that slavery was evil.
In this work, Mary had much to offer.
She was a good writer, a clear and compelling speaker, and willing to go door to door to collect signatures, even when Congress refused to accept them.
In this work, Mary had much to offer.
She was a good writer, a clear and compelling speaker, and willing to go door to door to collect signatures, even when Congress refused to accept them.
SIDEBAR: Did you know there was a Gag Rule in the 19th century? Abolitionists submitted so many petitions that the House of Representatives voted to table them automatically. Like the contemporary Gag Rule, this affected women most, as petitioning was their only political voice.
Mary Grew believed in racial equality in the north, not just freedom from enslavement in the south.
When Frances Watkins Harper critiqued the women’s rights movement for ignoring streetcar segregation in Philadelphia, Mary listened.
Mary lambasted local white clergy:
When Frances Watkins Harper critiqued the women’s rights movement for ignoring streetcar segregation in Philadelphia, Mary listened.
Mary lambasted local white clergy:
“Eager, zealous, prompt to do battle against the running of our city cars on Sunday, they have scarcely been disturbed by this wicked and cruel practice of excluding their fellow citizens and fellow Christians from those cars on account of their complexion.”
Mary Grew was always a feminist, though she wasn’t at Seneca Falls in 1848.
That convention, sparked by the discrimination Mary and Lucretia Mott experienced in London, was called on short notice when Mott was visiting western New York from Philadelphia.
But the same year,
That convention, sparked by the discrimination Mary and Lucretia Mott experienced in London, was called on short notice when Mott was visiting western New York from Philadelphia.
But the same year,
Mary lobbied the Pennsylvania legislature to pass the Married Women’s Property Act.
After the war, with ratification of the 15th Amdt imminent, Mary turned more attention to women.
She was the founding president of the Penn. Woman Suffrage Assoc., and its head for 23 years.
After the war, with ratification of the 15th Amdt imminent, Mary turned more attention to women.
She was the founding president of the Penn. Woman Suffrage Assoc., and its head for 23 years.
She was exasperated with those who demanded justification for women voting.
“What is woman going to do with the ballot?
I don’t know; I don’t care; and it is of no consequence.
Their right to the ballot does not rest on the way in which they vote.”
“What is woman going to do with the ballot?
I don’t know; I don’t care; and it is of no consequence.
Their right to the ballot does not rest on the way in which they vote.”
When Mary Grew died in 1896, her obituary observed: “Her biography would be a history of all reforms in Pennsylvania for fifty years.”
So what about Margaret??
So what about Margaret??
From the time they were in their 30s, Mary Grew (right) and Margaret Jones (left) did everything together.
Abolition was the center of their lives, but they also took trips to the seashore.
Abolition was the center of their lives, but they also took trips to the seashore.
Their circle included Mary’s co-editor on the newspaper, Cyrus M. Burleigh. In 1855, when he was dying of tuberculosis, Margaret married him.
Cyrus died a month later.
Margaret settled his affairs, and within six months she and Mary set off on a tour of New England.
Cyrus died a month later.
Margaret settled his affairs, and within six months she and Mary set off on a tour of New England.
They lived together the rest of their lives. They signed their letters “Mary & Margaret.”
Did they have sex? They may have; it’s not a new invention.
We know they were a devoted couple for 40 years. When Margaret died, Mary received condolences like a widow.
Did they have sex? They may have; it’s not a new invention.
We know they were a devoted couple for 40 years. When Margaret died, Mary received condolences like a widow.
When Mary died five years later, a eulogy described them as akin to husband and wife:
“They had grown like two noble trees, side by side from youth to age, with roots so interlaced that when the one was uptorn the other could never take quite the same hold on life again.”
“They had grown like two noble trees, side by side from youth to age, with roots so interlaced that when the one was uptorn the other could never take quite the same hold on life again.”
Mary Grew’s only fault, said the eulogist, was her intolerance of people not committed to justice.
#suffrage101 #19thamendment #15thAmendment
#suffrage101 #19thamendment #15thAmendment
