Frederick Douglass. Brilliant orator, man of great moral force who had the skill to play in the political arena of the time. He also had enough sense to avoid John Brown’s chimerical scheme.
John W. Jones, a local hometown luminary, is a name few know, but certainly deserves recognition. Operating in Elmira, NY, he also worked with many in the congregation of Rev Thomas K. Beecher, a mere hour south of Harriet Tubman’s home in Auburn, NY and was actively involved in the cause for decades. http://www.johnwjonesmuseum.org/jwjstory.html
Harriet Tubman. It may be a cliche, since she is so well known, but she was an amazing woman who worked so hard for the causes she believed in — from the day she escaped to freedom until her death decades later on a property her friend William Seward helped her purchase to provide housing and care for impoverished elderly black people in Auburn, New York. She was an abolitionist, a feminist, and an educator — not to mention an Underground Railroad conductor and a Union spy and nurse — all without any of the conventional benefits that aided others of her peers to undertake those causes. And all that while coping with unpredictable intermittent fainting spells from a childhood injury while she was still enslaved.
I echo Harriet Tubman. Pure b@d@$$. You would think that after all this time, there would be some military facility named for her. All I can find is a ‘Liberty ship’ that was named for her in the later part pf WWII. Be a great action to take to name, say, a US Navy warship after her as Black History Month goes on.
Brigadier General Joshua L. Chamberlain.
I don’t know as much about him as I’d like to. I’m calling him an abolitionist because it sounds like he joined the army to free slaves, not just to keep the country from splitting up.
His courtesy to the surrendering Confederates led CSA General Gordon to later call him “one of the knightliest soldiers of the federal army.” Chamberlain strikes me as a very decent human being in a couple of other ways.
He was also a badass soldier. He personally captured a Confederate officer. He accomplished a lot while sick or wounded. That included plenty of accomplishments after the war, despite pain and frequent infections from a combat wound that never healed right.
He was both a tough guy and a good guy. These days we forget that’s even possible.
Who is your favorite abolitionist from the Antebellum or Civil War years? Why?
John Brown- he just didn’t sit around and talk about it- he was a man of action. Got the ball rolling.
Frederick Douglass. Brilliant orator, man of great moral force who had the skill to play in the political arena of the time. He also had enough sense to avoid John Brown’s chimerical scheme.
Abraham Lincoln. He did not start out as such and would not have claimed the title. But…he succeeded.
John W. Jones, a local hometown luminary, is a name few know, but certainly deserves recognition. Operating in Elmira, NY, he also worked with many in the congregation of Rev Thomas K. Beecher, a mere hour south of Harriet Tubman’s home in Auburn, NY and was actively involved in the cause for decades. http://www.johnwjonesmuseum.org/jwjstory.html
The Grimké sisters–’nuff said!
Harriet Tubman. It may be a cliche, since she is so well known, but she was an amazing woman who worked so hard for the causes she believed in — from the day she escaped to freedom until her death decades later on a property her friend William Seward helped her purchase to provide housing and care for impoverished elderly black people in Auburn, New York. She was an abolitionist, a feminist, and an educator — not to mention an Underground Railroad conductor and a Union spy and nurse — all without any of the conventional benefits that aided others of her peers to undertake those causes. And all that while coping with unpredictable intermittent fainting spells from a childhood injury while she was still enslaved.
Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” set the whole world alight…
I echo Harriet Tubman. Pure b@d@$$. You would think that after all this time, there would be some military facility named for her. All I can find is a ‘Liberty ship’ that was named for her in the later part pf WWII. Be a great action to take to name, say, a US Navy warship after her as Black History Month goes on.
Brigadier General Joshua L. Chamberlain.
I don’t know as much about him as I’d like to. I’m calling him an abolitionist because it sounds like he joined the army to free slaves, not just to keep the country from splitting up.
His courtesy to the surrendering Confederates led CSA General Gordon to later call him “one of the knightliest soldiers of the federal army.” Chamberlain strikes me as a very decent human being in a couple of other ways.
He was also a badass soldier. He personally captured a Confederate officer. He accomplished a lot while sick or wounded. That included plenty of accomplishments after the war, despite pain and frequent infections from a combat wound that never healed right.
He was both a tough guy and a good guy. These days we forget that’s even possible.
This question got me inspired. I posted on my own blog about why Chamberlain was cool, and why he wasn’t as cool as I thought. https://humanmanhood.wordpress.com/2019/02/16/profile-of-human-manhood-joshua-l-chamberlain/
Frederick Douglass. Smart man. Full of love.
James Wood, a wealthy Quaker farmer who operated the only documented UGRR site in New Hampshire. http://framemaster.tripod.com/wood.html/index.html