Quick hit: the role of Black women activists in the Civil War

There’s no better way to start the week than with some hardcore history nerdporn. So it’ a good thing that the Disunion blog at the New York Times, which chronicling the Civil War as it happened 150 years ago, is has posted a really interesting article on the role of Black women activists in the abolition movement:

Boston and Philadelphia black women benefited from the unparalleled influence in their cities of white abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who championed both the emancipation of slaves and the rights of women. In Boston, the New England Anti-Slavery Society, which Garrison helped found in 1833, welcomed black women like Susan Paul. When white women in Boston established the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society without a single black member, Garrison shamed them into integrating their ranks. From its inception, the more progressive Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society brought together white, mostly Quaker, women — Lucretia Mott, Mary Grew, sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimké — and black — Margaretta Forten, Sarah McCrummell, Charlotte Forten, Sarah Forten, Harriet Purvis, Grace Douglass, Sarah Mapps Douglass and Mary Wood.

This blog is a must-read for history nerds and this post in particular is a fascinating for all those interested in the history of American feminism. So that’s about 90% of Feministing readers. Enjoy, nerds!