Rare Female Anti-Slavery Society Circular, with an Autograph Letter by its Founder mentioning the Grimke Sisters

Boston, June 20, 1837. Single sheet, 9 3/4 x 7 7/8 in. (248 x 200 mm). One-page autograph letter, signed by leading Boston abolitionist and founder of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society Maria W. Chapman to reformer and abolitionist Rev. Samuel J. May, inscribed on the verso of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society's printed circular, titled "Address of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society to the Women of New England", urging the circulation of their petitions against slavery in Washington, D.C. and in Texas. Reads in part, "May the Boston Female Anti Slavery society look to you to see to it that the annexed forms of petition & remonstrances are faithfully circulated in your town? It is thought all important by those friends of the cause who judgement is most worthy to be relied on that petitioning should be done this year whatever else is left undone. We, as the friends of the slave, depend on you to put these petitions into hands that will be sure to circulate them if circumstances should prevent you from doing it yourself. The Misses Grimke of South Carolina have been addressing our Society-- & the things they tell us of the state of slavery at the south are enough to rouse the most indifferent to exertion..." Docketed in upper left corner. Creasing from old folds.

Leading Boston abolitionist Maria W. Chapman (1806-85) writes to fellow abolitionist Rev. Samuel J. May (1797-1871), urging the circulation and promotion of the present petition issued by the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, and mentioning the recent addresses given by the Grimke sisters, Sarah and Angelina, on the condition of slavery in the South.

Written on the verso of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society's powerful printed circular that urges its followers to fight for the abolition of slavery in Washington, D.C. and its banning in Texas: "Who have power to abolish it in the District of Columbia, and to prevent its further progress by forbidding the introduction of slaveholding Texas? Our norther senators, and representatives, who form a majority in Congress.--Why do they not use this power? Because they are not sure that it would meet the wishes of their constituents. Who are their constituents? YOU: women of the North! You, with your husbands and brethren are their constituents. Remember that the representation of our country is based on the numbers of the population irrespective of sex...let us reflect that conduct is the test of sincerity, and that we are upholding slavery in the most effectual manner, if we keep silence when an opportunity offers of lifting up our voices against it. Sustaining, as we do, all the relations of womanhood, we cannot but be shocked at a system which debases women to a brute, by making her an article of property, keeping her in ignorance and heathenism, buying, selling, scourging and dividing her from children and friends at will. But if we are not enough shocked at its existence to pray both secretly and publicly, of God and man for its extinction, we are partakers of the sin; and may God forgive our hypocrisy; and humanize our hearts!"

Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, Maria W. Chapman was educated in England before marrying Henry Grafton Chapman in 1830, a prosperous Boston merchant and committed abolitionist. Through the influence of her husband and his family, as well as that of William Lloyd Garrison, Maria became a fervent abolitionist. In 1833, she, together with 12 women, including her sisters, established the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. The organization was interracial and drew women from various social classes, all united in demanding the immediate and unconditional end to slavery. To advance their mission, they conducted large-scale petition campaigns, arranged conventions, and raised funds through yearly fairs and bazaars, all while under constant threat of violent reprisals. Maria remained resolute in the face of danger and would not be silenced. When a white mob attempted to disrupt their annual gathering in 1835, she reportedly declared, "If this is the last bulwark of freedom, we may as well die here, as any where." Chapman wielded considerable influence within the abolitionist movement, and her residence served as the base of operations for the so-called "Boston Clique," a faction that wielded sway over anti-slavery organizations throughout the country. As a writer and editor, she collaborated closely with William Lloyd Garrison on his newspaper The Liberator and contributed to publications including the National Anti-Slavery Standard and The Non-Resistant. Additionally, she held positions on numerous committees within the New England Anti-Slavery Society and the American Anti-Slavery Society.

At the time of this letter, Sarah (1792-1873) and Angelina Grimke (1805-79) had just finished a speaking tour of New York and New Jersey and were about to begin an exhausting speaking tour of New England. The day following this letter, on June 21, 1837, they gave their largest to date address, in Boston, to a mixed crowd of men and women. Their speeches at this time on the horrors of slavery catapulted them to the fore-front of the abolitionist movement, and helped normalize the inclusion of women into the largely male-dominated abolitionist circles. Rev. Samuel J. May, to whom the present letter is addressed, was a champion of racial and gender integrated abolitionism, and in 1837, asked Angelina Grimke to lecture to his South Scituate, Massachusetts congregation. As a supporter of feminism, in 1846 May published The Rights and Conditions of Women, helped organize the Third National Woman's Rights Convention in Syracuse, in 1852, and worked to improve working conditions for Syracuse women.