291:. Black literary societies like this one began forming in urban Northern cities in the late 1820s and early 1830s. These societies turned to reading as an invaluable method of acquiring knowledge and to writing as a means of asserting identity, recording information, and communicating with a black public that ranged from the literate to the semi-literate to the illiterate. Societies were based on the idea that for the welfare and survival of the community, individuals had to come together in larger groups that would both create a sense of national identity and collective spirit and would extend essential knowledge to the black community, both free and enslaved.
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education for both the literate and illiterate and to both the free and enslaved. Education was to challenge white beliefs in the intellectual inferiority of
African Americans. Douglass and the women of the Association believed that the "cultivation of intellectual powers" was the greatest human pursuit, because God had bestowed those powers and talents. It was their duty as women and African Americans to use those talents to try to break down the existing divides between African Americans and Whites, and to fight for equal rights for people of color.
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formed a little world of my own, and cared not to move beyond its precincts. But how was the scene changed when I held the oppressor lurking on the border of my peaceful home! I saw his iron hand stretched forth to seize me as his prey, and the cause of the slave became my own. I started up, and with one mighty effort threw from me the lethargy which had covered me as a mantle for years; and determined, by the help of the
Almighty, to use every exertion in my power to elevate the character of my wronged and neglected race.
254:, and Douglass become the head of the primary department, a position she held until her retirement in 1877. As a teacher, she was committed to giving girls equal opportunities to learn subjects which had previously been reserved primarily for boys, including mathematics and sciences. She was interested in various sciences herself, and kept her personal natural history cabinet in her classroom, which included a collection of various shells and minerals for her students to study.
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and other federal territories and for suppressing the slave trade between the
American states." By 1840, Douglass had served in the group as a member of the board of directors, of the committee on annual fairs, of the education committee, recording and corresponding secretary, librarian, and manager.
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From 1853 to 1877, Douglass studied anatomy, female health and hygiene, and acquired medical basic training at the Female
Medical College of Pennsylvania, becoming the first African American student, and at the Ladies' Institute of Pennsylvania Medical University. Her work at the medical institutes
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One short year ago, how different were my feelings on the subject of slavery! It is true, the wail of the captive sometimes came to my ear in the midst of my happiness, and caused my heart to bleed for his wrongs; but, alas! the impression was as evanescent as the early cloud and morning dew. I had
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Douglass was one of the FLA's leaders, and the FLA was the first social libraries specially for
African American women. The FLA provided a space for Black women to share important readings they found as well as their own writings. The Female Literary Association encouraged self-improvement through
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On
December 14, 1833, the society finalized their Constitution, which stated that they deemed it their duty "as professing Christians to manifest abhorrence of the flagrant injustice and deep sin of slavery by united and vigorous exertions." Membership in the society was open to any woman who
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to circulate among the members and their friends. The
Society also accumulated a small library of antislavery books and pamphlets for dissemination. "Within its first year, it also established a school for African American children. The Society also promoted the
346:. The purpose of the society was to secure the total abolition of slavery as soon as possible, without any compensation to the slaveholders, as well as to procure equal civil and religious rights with the white people of the United States.
303:, nearly all of the members would weekly write original pieces, put anonymously into a box, that a committee afterwards criticized. Douglass herself often wrote prose and poetry, much of it published in "Ladies' Department" of
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The members of the Female
Literary Association met every Tuesday with meetings devoted to reading and recitation for the purpose of "mutual improvement in moral and literary pursuits." According to their supporter
238:, before establishing her own school for African American girls. She was soon recognized as a talented teacher of the sciences and arts, and for holding her students to high standards. In 1838, the
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In the early 1820s, Douglass attended college, and then taught briefly in New York City. In 1825, she began teaching in
Philadelphia at a school organized by her mother with
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In an address to the
Association in 1832 at a "mental feast," Douglass shared how the call to activism with the Female Literary Association came about:
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woman. These paintings are contained within the Cassey Dickerson Album, a rare collection of 19th-century friendship letters between a group of women.
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342:. The Society, from the beginning, was interracial, including members of African American descent like Douglass along with white women members, like
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155:, writer, and public lecturer. Her painted images on her written letters may be the first or earliest surviving examples of signed paintings by an
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of goods manufactured by slaves and lobbied for emancipation. This included circulating petitions to Congress for the abolition of slavery in the
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and a widower with nine children. After her husband's death in 1861, Douglass resumed her antislavery activities and teaching full-time.
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287:(FLA) in 1831, a group free of African American women dedicated to improving their skills and deepening their identification with
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202:. Douglass grew up among Philadelphia's elite, and according to C. Peter Ripley "he received extensive tutoring as a child."
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Douglass's role as an activist began as early as 1831, when at twenty-five, she organized the collection of money to send to
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213:, with whom she shared advertising space at his shop on Arch Street, where their family lived. Her cousin was artist
1032:
Lindhorst, Marie (1998). "Politics in a Box: Sarah Mapps Douglass and the Female Literary Association, 1831–1833".
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Bacon, Margaret Hope (Spring 2001). "New Light on Sarah Mapps Douglass and Her Reconciliation with Friends".
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Bacon, Margaret Hope (Spring 2001). "New Light on Sarah Mapps Douglass and Her Reconciliation with Friends".
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influenced her decision to lecture and teach evening classes to African American women at meetings of the
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Bacon, Margaret Hope (2001). "New Light on Sarah Mapps Douglass and Her Reconciliation with Friends".
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Brown, Ira V. (1978). "Cradle of Feminism: The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, 1833-1840".
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took over the school, retaining Douglass as the headmaster. In 1854, the school merged with the
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Sarah Mapps Douglass, faithful attender of Quaker Meeting : view from the back bench
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The members of the Society subscribed to several antislavery journals such as Garrison's
908:"Politics in a Box: Sarah Mapps Douglass and the Female Literary Association, 1831-1833"
755:"Politics in a Box: Sarah Mapps Douglass and the Female Literary Association, 1831-1833"
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who owned a bakery and operated a school run from his home, was an early member of the
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Forgotten Readers: Recovering the Lost History of African American Literacy Societies
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Sarah Mapps Douglass correspondence has been digitized and is available at the
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1082:(1st Oxford University Press pbk. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Creating their own image : the history of African-American women artists
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522:"Examining Drexel's Ties to the First African-American Women Physicians"
953:"Painted Bride productions on 19th century women touch familiar issues"
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and was a founding member of the Female Literary Association and the
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Lifting as we climb : Black women's battle for the ballot box
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With her mother, she was a founding member (1833) of the biracial
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151:(September 9, 1806 – September 8, 1882) was an American educator,
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1006:. Philadelphia: Quaker Press of Friends General Conference.
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under the pseudonym Zillah and possibly also "Sophonisba."
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subscribed to these views and contributed to the Society.
477:. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. pp.
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Douglass was the first African American student at the
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Burials at Eden Cemetery (Collingdale, Pennsylvania)
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Sarah Mapps Douglass appears as a main character in
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1109:Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
1059:. Durham, London: Duke University Press. pp.
1013:The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
190:, a milliner and teacher. Douglass' grandfather,
1230:Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania alumni
1200:African-American college graduates before 1865
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267:, which she also served as a contributor to.
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882:"Voices from the Gaps: Sarah Mapps Douglass"
859:"Voices from the Gaps: Sarah Mapps Douglass"
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1103:Sarah Mapps Douglass correspondence in the
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340:Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
334:Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
240:Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
209:in Philadelphia. Her brother was artist
168:Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
144:A flower by Sarah Mapps Douglass, c.1833
27:American activist and artist (1806–1882)
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807:"The Cause of the Slave Became My Own"
445:List of African-American abolitionists
395:African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas
164:Female Medical College of Pennsylvania
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386:on issues of physiology and hygiene.
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880:Levy, Valerie D. (January 8, 2005).
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393:, the African-American rector of
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753:Lindhorst, Marie (Summer 1998).
76:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
1180:19th-century American educators
1140:Abolitionists from Pennsylvania
657:, NYU Press, pp. 181–218,
506:Library Company of Philadelphia
283:Douglass also helped found the
1170:African-American women artists
1165:African-American abolitionists
279:Another watercolor by Douglass
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1215:19th-century American writers
1175:19th-century American artists
1002:Bacon, Margaret Hope (2003).
236:Free African School for Girls
18:Sarah Mapps Douglass Douglass
1078:Farrington, Lisa E. (2011).
649:Rusert, Britt (2017-04-18),
502:African Americana Collection
1190:Educators from Pennsylvania
1053:McHenry, Elizabeth (2002).
285:Female Literary Association
271:Female Literary Association
244:Institute for Colored Youth
178:Sarah Douglass was born in
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1160:African-American activists
1145:Artists from Philadelphia
906:Lindhorst, Marie (1998).
861:. University of Minnesota
471:Farrington, Lisa (2005).
406:Collingdale, Pennsylvania
90:Collingdale, Pennsylvania
1115:In Her Own Right project
929:"Historic Eden Cemetery"
796:Lindhorst (1998), p. 11.
474:Creating Their Own Image
427:Painted Bride Art Center
248:Cheyney State University
886:University of Minnesota
775:Lindhorst (1998), p. 9.
602:Dionne, Evette (2020).
933:Historic Eden Cemetery
787:McHenry (2002), p. 58.
743:McHenry (2002), p. 37.
734:McHenry (2002), p. 23.
425:, commissioned by the
408:in an unmarked grave.
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318:Anglo-African Magazine
301:William Lloyd Garrison
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259:William Lloyd Garrison
188:Grace Bustill Douglass
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987:10.1353/qkh.2001.0011
957:Philadelphia Inquirer
847:Brown (1978), p. 153.
838:Brown (1978), p. 146.
829:Brown (1978), p. 144.
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565:10.1353/qkh.2001.0011
440:List of abolitionists
389:In 1855, she married
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174:Early life and family
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1034:Pennsylvania History
951:Salisbury, Stephen.
759:Pennsylvania History
725:Bacon (2001), p. 29.
585:Bacon (2001), p. 27.
377:Later life and death
370:District of Columbia
312:The Colored American
289:enslaved black women
221:Education and career
215:David Bustill Bowser
200:Free African Society
149:Sarah Mapps Douglass
34:Sarah Mapps Douglass
1105:Josiah White papers
636:Bacon (2001), p. 3.
211:Robert Douglass Jr.
205:She is part of the
528:. 26 February 2016
412:In popular culture
384:Banneker Institute
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960:(April 26, 2013).
672:978-1-4798-8568-8
651:"Sarah's Cabinet"
615:978-0-451-48154-2
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180:Philadelphia
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71:(1882-09-08)
58:Pennsylvania
54:Philadelphia
1135:1882 deaths
1130:1806 births
261:to support
1124:Categories
1070:0822329956
938:2023-03-22
678:2020-11-06
624:1099569335
608:. Viking.
532:2019-03-27
451:References
419:Ain Gordon
315:, and the
46:1806-09-09
995:162189564
913:March 27,
891:March 27,
815:March 27,
713:162189564
573:162189564
559:: 28–49.
526:DrexelNow
129:Relatives
117:Parent(s)
102:paintings
1107:held at
1046:27774117
1025:20091253
434:See also
226:Teaching
100:Writing;
366:boycott
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765:: 263.
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196:Quaker
107:Spouse
92:, U.S.
60:, U.S.
1042:JSTOR
1021:JSTOR
991:S2CID
810:(PDF)
709:S2CID
569:S2CID
479:50–51
456:Notes
250:) on
246:(now
1084:ISBN
1065:ISBN
915:2019
893:2019
867:2012
817:2019
667:ISBN
620:OCLC
610:ISBN
483:ISBN
357:and
194:, a
66:Died
40:Born
1017:102
983:doi
701:doi
659:doi
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