Abby Kelley (Abby Kelley Foster) (January 15, 1811 - January 14, 1887) - Radical Reformer January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Joyce Rollins is a lesbian. ... January 14 is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ...

Abby Kelley was born in Pelham, Massachusetts on January 15th, 1811. She grew up in Worcester and Millbury, Mass where her Quaker family farmed. In 1836, she moved to Lynn, Massachusetts where she was a teacher. She was interested in the health theories of Sylvester Graham and had a general interest in the abolition of slavery. She held the common view that the freed slaves would colonize Liberia. Pelham is a town located in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. ... Nickname: The Heart of the Commonwealth, The City of the Seven Hills, Wormtown, Woo-town, Wortown (war-town), The City of Diners Motto: Official website: www. ... The Religious Society of Friends (commonly known as Quakers or Friends) is a loose knit religious or spiritual movement founded in England in the 17th century by people who were dissatisfied with the existing denominations and sects of Christianity. ... Sylvester Graham (July 5, 1794 - September 11, 1851) was born in Suffield, Connecticut, and was ordained in 1826 as a Presbyterian minister. ...

Her views changed, however, when she heard the speech of Angelina Grimke. Abby became an “ultra” proposing not only the abolition of slavery but also full civil equality for Negroes. The influence of William Lloyd Garrison also caused her to take on the position of “non-resistance”. Non-resistants went beyond opposing war to opposing all forms of government coercion. They refused to serve on juries or in the militia and even to vote. This is somewhat ironic considering Abby’s future work. There are two Angelina Grimkes: Angelina Weld Grimke Angelina Emily Grimke This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December 12, 1805, - May 24, 1879) was a prominent United States abolitionist, journalist and reformer. ...

As an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society, she traveled around the country speaking against slavery and recruiting people to become active abolitionists. Among her recruits were Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony. A young attractive woman speaking to “promiscuous audiences” (audiences of both men and women) was shocking. Women going beyond the bounds of propriety were said to be victims of “Abby Kelleyism”. Embracing the title they would refer to themselves as “Abby Kelleyites”. The role of women in the movement became an area of controversy causing the abolitionist movement to split. Abby chose the radical wing sometimes referred to as the Garrisonians. The American Anti-Slavery Society (1833-1870) was founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. ... Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was an American suffragist, the wife of abolitionist Henry Brown Blackwell (1825-1909) (the brother of Elizabeth Blackwell) and the mother of Alice Stone Blackwell, another prominent suffragette, journalist and human rights defender. ... Susan Brownell Anthony, aged 28 Susan Brownell Anthony, (February 17, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was a prominent American civil rights leader who, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, led the effort to secure Womens suffrage in the United States. ...

Fighting for women’s rights became a priority for the ultra abolitionists. Abby helped organize and was a key speaker at the first national woman’s rights convention in Worcester, Mass in 1850 (The better known convention in Oneida, New York in 1848 was not national). A fictionalized version of her role in the convention was included in the play “Angels and Infidels” performed in Worcester on the 150th anniversary of the convention. She was a leader in the movement. She would subsequently split with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton by supporting the 15th Amendment giving ex-slaves the right to vote without extending the franchise to women. Image:Joint Resolution Proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, 7 December 1868. ...

She married Stephen Foster, another radical abolitionist, in 1845. Somehow she managed to combine motherhood and working on a farm in Worcester with continued activism.

She often shared her platform with ex-slaves despite the additional scorn this entailed. "I rejoice to be identified with the despised people of color. If they are to be despised, so ought their advocates to be".

Sojourner Truth’s first speaking engagement was with Abby Kelley. Sojurner Truth Sojourner Truth (c. ...

Despite health difficulties she remained a radical after abolition. In 1874 she and Stephen risked losing their farm by refusing to pay taxes, since they constituted taxation without representation, since she couldn’t vote.

She died January 14th 1887, one day before her 76th birthday.

See also

• Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School
• Liberty Farm

Sources:

• Sterling, Dorothy (1991). Ahead of Her Time: Abbey Kelly and The Politics of Antislavery, W.W. Noton and Company. ISBN 0393030261.
• Mayer, Henry (1998). All on Fire: William Lloyd Garrison and the Abolition of Slavery, St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312187408.

External links

• Worcester Women's History Project:
  • Abby Kelley Foster
  • Stephen Symonds Foster
  • Angels and Infidels
• Liberty Farm National Historic Landmark, former home of Abby Kelley Foster