![]() Leading up to the RLASSĬurtailed from full political participation, 19th-century women found their own ways to organize around social issues. It shall be rule of the Society that the supper consist of tea, bread and butter, one kind of plain cake, and one simple relish. The funds of this Society shall be devoted to the diffusion of Anti-Slavery Sentiments by means of the Press and the Lecturer to the relief of the suffering Fugitive, and for such other Anti-Slavery objects that may present themselves. Whereas Slavery is an evil that ought not to exist and is a violation of the inalienable rights of man, as set forth in the Declaration of Independence…. To wit, their Constitution included a Preamble: Who were these women? A blend of conventional and brave, operating within the “sphere” of 19th century expectations and also breaking beyond it. The Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society ![]() RLASS paid for her to work as a relief agent during the Civil War, helping people who had escaped slavery and made their way to Alexandria, Virginia. I learned about the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society when I researched the life of Julia Wilbur, a member and sort of a grantee/contractor of the group. (You can read the full speech here, as well as listen to an excerpt voiced by five young descendants here.) The existed of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretense, and your Christianity a lie. I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them.įellow citizens, I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. ![]() An illustration from the time shows the room set up for a banquet, but I am picturing a tightly packed, hot room of people who came to hear Douglass in the middle of summer.įellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic…they loved their country more than their own private interests.īut despite the national rejoicing for Independence Day, He quite pointedly chose the day after the 4th for his lecture, sponsored by the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society (or RLASS) at Corinthian Hall, a grand public space in the center of the city. This past July 4th brought new attention and urgency to a speech that Frederick Douglass gave on July 5, 1852. ![]()
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