The Grimké Sisters

The Sisterhood: Shall women's voices be hushed?

It’s not a myth that throughout history women have been silenced when fighting for their rights as well as striving for equality. From the first female voice in congress[1], Jeannette Rankin to our own Senator Elizabeth Warren, a legacy of women, past and present time, did not just give up when experiencing times of gender oppression[2] and inequality -instead, they fought back with grace and wisdom. The sisters, Sarah Moore Grimké (1792–1873) and Angelina Emily Grimké (1805–1879) were both, literally and figurately, a great representation of this kind of sisterhood. In their sisterhood of inclusion, these sisters proved us what would happen when unifying our voices against hate, bigotry, and oppression, which led to great outcomes along the way.

Having a sister who would not only share your blood but also your ideas and passion, as well as encourage you to achieve your goals, is like finding a gold mine. The Grimké sisters were different in style but similar by heart. Daughters of a wealthy family in Charleston, South Carolina. Their parents were John Faucheraud Grimké, who was a lieutenant colonel in the Revolutionary War and speaker in the South Carolina House of Representatives before becoming the chief judge of the Supreme Court[3] of South Carolina, and Mary Smith, both plantation and slave owners.

In 1837, in our dear city of Lowell, Sarah and Angelina spoke against slavery in front of 1,500 people; although, they often were heavily criticized for “having the audacity to speak to promiscuous meetings of men and women together” (National Women's History Museum[4]).

The abolitionists and women’s rights advocates, Sarah, and Angelina Grimké has shown us that two voices are stronger than one. That having allies -just like a sisterhood- would be a better approach to gender and race inequality, while fighting for our rights and for those who cannot be heard -yet. 

🙋Facts About Sarah

“Our powers of mind have been crushed, as far as man could do it, our sense of morality has been impaired by his interpretation of our duties; but nowhere does God say that he made any distinction between us, as moral and intelligent beings”

-Sarah Grimké. Letter III: The Pastoral Letter of the General Association of Congregational Ministers of Massachusetts. Haverhill, 1837

 

Sarah Moore Grimké 1792 to 1873. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <https://www.loc.gov/item/2003653378/>.

🎂 Birthday: November 26, 1792 (1873). 

• Sarah was the sixth child and the second daughter out of the 14 brothers and sisters in total. She was 13 years older than Angelina.

• Sarah had a hunger for knowledge and was eager to learn. Her dreams of being able to attend law school[5] were broken because women did not have the right to attend college[6] by then. Despite her discomfort, she began to help the slaves’ children by secretly teaching them how to read and write[7], even when this was against the state law[8]. Unfortunately, Sarah’s father found out about her actions. Infuriated, he nearly had the young slave girl whipped[9], and Sarah could not continue her goals…for now.

• In 1817, when Sarah was 26, her father was seriously ill. They moved to Philadelphia, where she served as his nurse. She also wasn’t the typical female for her era -her goals were to help women and slaves, even before thinking about marriage. She even turned down two marriage proposals![10] Nevertheless, her motherly side was reflected when helping to raise Angelina’s children just like she did in the past after taking responsibility of Angelina[11] when they were younger.

• Sarah joined her sister Angelina in the Abolitionist Movement. A year later, in 1837, the ministry issued a Pastoral Letter of the General Association of Massachusetts to the Congregational Churches Under Their Care declaring that when "a woman assumes the place and tone of man as a public reformer…her character becomes unnatural"[12], which Sarah responded with her pamphlet, An Epistle to the Clergy of the Southern States, by 1839.

• Sarah believed that education is the key[13] for preparing women for the equality, as she advocated for women’s educational and reproductive rights, their financial freedom, and claimed that women were in a position of slavery for being unable to refuse sex to her husband -what she called “legal prostitutes, a chattel personal, a tool that is used, a mere convenience”[14].

“Men seems to feel that Marriage gives him the control of Woman’s person just as the Law gives him the control of her property” (Sarah Grimké).

⚜ Sarah died on December 23, 1873; no information about the reasons was found.

🙋Facts about Angelina

“Will you behold unheeding, life's holiest feelings crushed, where woman's heart is bleeding, Shall woman's voice be hushed?" 

-Angelina Emily Grimké. Appeal to Christian Women of the South [15]. New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1836

Angelina Emily Grimké 1805 to 1879. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <https://www.loc.gov/item/2003653379/>.

🎂 Birthday: February 20, 1805 (1879).

• In 1836, Angelina became the first American woman to publicly address a state legislature[16] in Massachusetts.

• Following the values of the Quakers, she renounced materialism and its comforts[17] and began a regime of austerity and moral and religious introspection.

• In 1835, distressed by violent riots against abolitionists and African Americans in New York and Philadelphia, Angelina wrote a letter in response to William Lloyd Garrison who, without her consent, published her letter on The Liberator[18]. The letter led her into a storm in her hometown and with her family, especially among the Quaker society who openly condemned any radical activism[19] -they even wanted for her to retract the letter[20], but she kept her voice intact.

“Her writing drew the ire of southerners who opposed its abolitionist message and northerners who felt that women had no business writing or speaking about something as controversial as slavery” (National Park Service[21]).

• Angelina gave a one-hour speech in Philadelphia Hall[22] before a group that included around 3,000 women and men. During a time that women’s voices were social condemned if heard in public, especially about the issues on slavery and gender inequality, a mob attacked the building during Angelina’s speech; and the building was burned the next day. Fortunately, there were not victims reported.

• At the age of 33, in 1838, she married Theodore Weld, an antislavery advocate[23] in the pre-Civil War period. A year later, Weld and the Grimké sisters published American slavery as it is: Testimony of a thousand witnesses, which was “designed to portray the horrors of American Slavery through a collection of first-hand testimonials and personal narratives from both freedmen and whites” (Monique Prince[24]).

• Angelina gave birth of three children, Charles Stuart, Theodore, and Sarah -children whom her sister took care of them as the children she never had.

⚜ Angelina died on October 26, 1879, after been paralyzed for several years due to strokes.

📽🎞Videos 

“American Experience: The Abolitionists – Angelina Grimke.” American Experience PBS. YouTube. Published on Jan 7, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Swj2usumY 

“Sarah Grimke & The Feminist Tradition: Shimer College Thought Series Lecture by Louise Knight.” Shimer College. YouTube. Published on Oct 22, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fIsRBgKay4

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✎🖆Footnotes & References

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[1] “Jeannette Rankin.” History, Art & Archives. United States House of Representatives. February 2017. http://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/RANKIN,-Jeannette-(R000055)/

[2] Min Kin, Seung. “Senate votes to shut up Elizabeth Warren.” Politico LLC. 2 Feb. 2017. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/elizabeth-warren-sessions-silence-234779

[3]  “Sarah Grimké (1792—1873) and Angelina Grimké Weld (1805—1879).” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. February 2017. http://www.iep.utm.edu/grimke/

[4] T., Nadia. “Angelina (1805-1879) and Sarah Grimke (1792-1873)” National Women's History Museum. 2008. https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/youngandbrave/asgrimke.html

[5]  Blundell, John. “Abolitionist Sisters.” Foundation for Economic Education. May 25, 2011. https://fee.org/articles/abolitionist-sisters/

[6] “Women Lawyers and State Bar Admission.” Law Library of Congress: American Memory. The Library of Congress. https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awlaw3/women_lawyers.html

[7] Lerner, Gerda. The Feminist Thought of Sarah Grimké. Oxford University Press. p6. 1998.

[8] "Act Passed by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina at the Session of 1830—1831" (Raleigh: 1831). Retrieved from: “Slaves Are Prohibited to Read and Write by Law.” History Is a Weapon. http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/slaveprohibit.html

[9] MacLean, Maggie. “Sarah Grimke.” History of American Women. 3 March 2013. http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2013/03/sarah-grimke.html

[10] Knight, Louise W. “About the Grimké Sisters.” Louise W. Knight. http://www.louisewknight.com/about-the-grimke-sisters.html

[11] “People & Ideas: Angelina and Sarah Grimké.” God in America. WGBH Educational Foundation. 11 October 2006. http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/people/angelina-grimke.html

[12] Board Moran, Karen. “Grimké Sisters.” Worcester Women's History Project. 2010.  http://www.wwhp.org/Resources/Slavery/grimkesisters.html

[13] Johnson Lewis, Jone. “Sarah Grimké: The mistaken notion of the inequality of the sexes.” Women’s History. About Inc. 28 November 2016. http://womenshistory.about.com/od/racialjustice/a/Sarah-Moore-Grimkandeacute.htm

[14] Lerner, Gerda. The Grimké Sisters from South Carolina: Pioneers for Women’s Rights and Abolition. New York: Oxford University Press. P.113. 1998.

[15] Rossi, Alice. The Feminist Papers: From Adams to de Beauvoir. Northeastern University Press; Reprint edition. p299. 1988.

[16] MacLean, Maggie. “Angelina Grimke.” 31 October 2013. History of American Women. http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2013/10/angelina-grimke.html

[17] Berkin, Carol. “Angelina and Sarah Grimke: Abolitionists Sisters.” The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. 2016. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/slavery-and-anti-slavery/essays/angelina-and-sarah-grimke-abolitionist-sisters

[18] Berkin, Carol.

[19] “Angelina Grimké.” Libertarianism. 2017. https://www.libertarianism.org/people/angelina-grimke

[20] Perry, Carolyn. The History of Southern Women's Literature (Southern Literary Studies). LSU Press. 2002. p72-73.

[21] “Grimke Sisters.” Notable Women’s Rights Leaders. National Park Service. US Department of Interior. https://www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/grimke-sisters.htm

[22] Blundell, John. “Abolitionist Sisters.” Foundation for Economic Education. May 25, 2011. https://fee.org/articles/abolitionist-sisters/

[23] “American slavery as it is: Testimony of a thousand witnesses.” Archive.Org. February 2017. https://archive.org/details/americanslaverya1839weld2

[24] Prince, Monique. “Theodore Dwight Weld, 1803-1895.” Documenting the American South. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. February 2017. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/weld/summary.html