"Tho' We are Deprived of the Privilege of Suffrage": The Henry County Female Anti-Slavery Society Records, 1841-1849

Abstract

Without a public arena, the women’s abolitionist movement employed traditional women’s activities in conjunction with writing for publication as their rhetorical force. Female antislavery societies incorporated a range of tactics including sewing clothing for escaped slaves, organizing fund-raising bazaars, and petitioning politicians. As with societies of men, women elected recording secretaries, submitted reports and addresses for newspaper publication, and some groups even developed tracts for public distribution. Denied the right to speak publicly, female antislavery societies used organizational documentation not only as a device to record their activities but also as a persuasive tool to shape public opinion.

Many of the female antislavery societies communicated through the antislavery press. Local, regional, and national papers published constitutions, resolutions, reports, and addresses of women’s organizations. The Henry County Female Anti-Slavery Society (HCFASS) maintained vigorous publication activities. During their eight-year existence, from 1841 to 1849, the Free Labor Advocate, a regional antislavery newspaper, published HCFASS resolutions and addresses almost every year. In addition to Indiana periodicals, HCFASS leaders sent publication requests to national newspapers. Although scholars have profiled several New England societies, the characteristics of individual societies in the Midwest remain slim. Since the HCFASS achieved the most prolific publication record of any female society in Indiana it provides a strong case study for female antislavery rhetoric in the Midwest.