The January 16, 1836 Liberator references A Disgraceful Act, signed by “A Protestant Clergyman”. It describes a picture of a Catholic Priest, displayed on an Engine House wall, which had…
Category: <span>-William Lloyd Garrison’s Best Lines & Headlines</span>
July, 1836 — Destruction of Mr. Pugh’s Abolitionist press, is followed by a flier, warning abolitionists of what is to come: THE DOG DAYS ARE COMING! ABOLITIONISTS BEWARE! “The citizens…
In March of 1852 William Cooper Nell wrote to Garrison, expressing thanks for Garrison’s “early and constant advocacy of women’s equality…. In the perilous years of ’33’-35, a colored woman…
Responding to a Channing public letter, in 1836, Garrison writes: “A million letters like this, would not emancipate a single slave. But rather rivet his fetters more strongly. It is…
In the April 14, 1837 issue of the Liberator, there is this, from the New Orleans True American . “Public opinion in the south, would now, we are sure, justify…
In 1837 in a couple of issues of the Liberator, there are comments from and responses to a John Gulliver, who has had a disagreement with Garrison. Gulliver has…
“His career is a landmark in the American dissenting tradition and exemplifies the fault line that in democratic politics separates the insiders, who think progress comes from quiet lobbying within…
SAVAGE BARBARITY ! Miss Crandall Imprisoned !!! Garrison has strong condemnation of those who imprison Crandall because she has admitted black female students to her Academy. “The authors of this…
An indication of the support of Garrison in Boston’s black community came with the creation of the Garrison Juvenile Society, in 1833. The first annual meeting of the Society was…
In 1834 this early Female Anti-Slavery Society was brought together in Boston, one of the first racially-integrated of those groups. There were at least nine black women in the group,…
Several hundred people gathered for the annual picnic of the Mass. Anti-Slavery Society, on July 4th, 1854. Speakers included Lucy Stone, Wendell Phillips, Sojourner Truth, Henry D. Thoreau, and Garrison.…
During the turbulent years regarding Kansas-Nebraska, according to Garrison biographer, Henry Mayer, “The public became so caught up in the excitement that Garrison had to walk a careful line between…
Social reform begins “in the heart of a solitary individual”…grows strong among, “humble men and women, who, unknown to the community. without means, without power, without station, but perceiving the…
The June 11, 1836 issue of the Liberator, quotes resolutions passed by the South Carolina Presbytery, including these words: “Slavery has existed in the Church of God from the time of…
“Ralph Waldo Emerson, who a for along time had been prejudiced against him, in 1844 wrote in his Journal: ‘The haters of Garrison have lived to rejoice in that grand…
The March 18, 1837 issue of the Liberator, reports that a meeting in the Susquehanna township, after electing men as trustees of a school, authorizes them to allow speakers of…
The Liberator o f August, 1837 in the Refuge of Oppression column, reserved for items the editor disfavors, includes quotes from The General Association of Massachusetts, from a communication to…
The Board of Managers of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, in a record signed by Francis Jackson, President, Sept. 5, 1837, responds to concern by some that they did not agree…
In the first of the editions of the Liberator, it was clear to readers that Garrison was acquainted with some respected international philosophers. Here is a sample of a quotation…
The Georgia House and Senate passed a resolution, Nov 30, 1831, which include these words: “Resolved that the sum of five thousand dollars is hereby appropriated to be paid to…
The January 2, 1840, Liberator, includes this in the column Refuge of Oppression, reserved for items Garrison hates, reported from a Southern state legislature: “He who values his birthright,…
Garrison said this, speaking before a colored convention in Philadelphia: “I never rise to address a colored audience without feeling ashamed of my color, ashamed of being identified with a…
On December 22, 1837, a gathering is held at Marlboro Chapel, commemorating the death of Elijah Lovejoy. Garrison says that the meeting should have been in Faneuil Hall, the Cradle…
Garrison had a very close bond with his daughter Helen Frances, named for his wife. Frances was known as “Fanny”. In an 1866 photograph she is shown with “her…
Here is a Resolution adopted by this Clergy: “Resolved, that we view slavery as a civil and domestic institution, and one with which, as ministers of Christ, we have nothing…
The June 1, 1838 Liberator, includes encouragement for abolitionists. This item includes an article from the Pennsylvania Freeman, titled, The Voice of the People. Part of the article quotes from…
In its Refuge of Oppression column, a February, 1839, Liberator quotes two letters under the sarcastic title, Polite Letters from the South. One letter, from Somerton, Virginia, addressed Garrison: “You can…
There is a long letter from Gray in the Liberator, March 15, 1839, which expresses a common view in Boston. Gray responds to actions in the Rhode Island legislature which…
The driver of the coach makes it clear that he will “have no damned nigger” on his coach. Garrison comments: “Such conduct deserves the severest reprehension. But, while our…
April 12, 1839, Liberator — The editor of the Michigan Observer tells of a letter he has received from a friend in Mississippi, who says, “I was recently conversing with…
A VOICE FROM THE COLORED PEOPLE OF BOSTON, is the title of an article in the June 7, 1839, Liberator. It includes resolutions passed in a meeting at the Belknap…
Herndon, after visiting Garrison, says: “I had imagined him a shriveled, cold, selfish, haughty man, one who was weak and fanatically blind to the charities and equities of life, at…
Barely one line, here is a bit of sarcasm: “Good. Friend Rogers writes Liberia thus — Lie-bury-ye“!” July 5, 1839 Liberator
The August 23, 1839 Liberator includes a notice from John Telemachus Hilton announcing an Anti-Slavery Intelligence Office, at 56 Brattle Street. He indicates that he receives daily requests for colored…
“A notice from the Hartford, Ct Review indicates that the only surviving slave of Washington’s is living in the city of Middletown. He is nearly one hundred years old, draws…
Writing to Helen about five months before their wedding, here is a flavor of Garrison’s feelings. “I am no longer William Lloyd Garrison, but Helen Eliza Benson. There is such…
To his prosecutor: “Your presumptuous, feeble, ridiculous remarks upon the subject of slavery, and the rights of slaveholders, exhausted my patience. A buzzing fly may disturb the equanimity of a…
February 21, 1865, George marched, with the Mass. 55th Regiment, into Charleston, greeted by thousands of cheering black people. James Redpath, a war correspondent, reported that , amid the joyful…
Here is an announcement of an evening Soiree to be held on January 25th, in Boston. It urges women to attend because 1860 is going to be good year. It…
At a late session of the Arkansas Legislature an act has been passed which gives free negroes of that State the alternative of migrating before January 1, 1860, or of…
Under the heading, A Thrilling Story, and from the Herald of Freedom, this article tells the story of Mrs. Mary Webster, of Boston, who, after many attempts, has successfully purchased…
In a letter to members of the appropriate committee, Garrison writes thanking them for a silver cup which was presented to him at the home of George Putnam. It was…
“Josiah Copley, editor of a religious paper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, happening to be in Boston in 1832, called on Garrison after some hesitation. ‘I never was more astonished’, he wrote.…
In the Liberator edition of January 20, 1860, there is a story of a Meeting of Colored Citizens, at the Bethel Church. William Wells Brown submitted to the gathering…
In the January 20, 1860 Liberator, with the country in great conversation about the recently executed John Brown, there is an item under the heading, John Brown in Prison. …
Notice that a gag rule been passed; there is not enough room to publish it in this edition. It is “more odious, more insulting to the lovers of liberty than…
Kelley responds to an argument advanced by many, namely, that public opinion is against having women speak in public. “I would appeal to common sense, whether public opinion is a…
This notice tells of a “very large body of colored citizens” who met, March 19th, in the Infant School Room, Belknap Street. Strong resolutions were passed in support of Garrison…
The speech by Garnet is in support of the following resolution: “That all the rights and immunities of American citizens are justly due to the people of color, who ever…
Writing to Helen, while on board ship, going to England, for the first international Convention, called by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society: “I think a great deal of my…