Julia Williams (July 1, 1811 - January 7, 1870) was an American abolitionist who was active in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Born free in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, she moved with her family as a child to Boston, Massachusetts, and was educated in the North. A member of the

Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society The Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (1833–1840) was an abolitionist, interracial organization in Boston, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century. "During its brief history ... it orchestrated three national women's conventions, organized a mult ...

, she attended the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women in New York in 1837. She married abolitionist

Henry Highland Garnet Henry Highland Garnet (December 23, 1815 – February 13, 1882) was an African-American abolitionist, minister, educator and orator. Having escaped as a child from slavery in Maryland with his family, he grew up in New York City. He was educat ...

and in 1852 they traveled to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

to work as

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

, where she headed an industrial school for girls. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, she worked with

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

to establish their new lives.

Early life and education

Julia Williams was born to

free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (French: ''gens de couleur libres''; Spanish: ''gente de color libre'') were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not ...

, in 1811. Her family moved to Boston, Massachusetts, when she was a child. A sister was later reportedly purchased out of slavery using funds supplied by Earro Weems, mother of escaped slave Anna Maria Weems and Stella (Mary Jane) Weems, the latter daughter having lived for a time with Williams and her husband Henry Highland Garnet. Williams was 21 years old when she traveled to

Canterbury, Connecticut Canterbury is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,045 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The area was settled by English colonists in the 1680s as ''Peagscomsuck''. It c ...

, to attend

Prudence Crandall Prudence Crandall (September 3, 1803 – January 27, 1890) was an American schoolteacher and activist. She ran the first school for black girls ("young Ladies and little Misses of color") in the United States, located in Canterbury, Connecticut. ...

Canterbury Female Boarding School The Canterbury Female Boarding School, in Canterbury, Connecticut, was operated by its founder, Prudence Crandall, from 1831 to 1834. When townspeople would not allow African-American girls to enroll, Crandall decided to turn it into a school for A ...

, a school for "young Ladies and little Misses of color". After the school closed due to public violence, Williams went to the

Noyes Academy The Noyes Academy was a racially integrated school, which also admitted women, founded by New England abolitionists in 1835 in Canaan, New Hampshire, near Dartmouth College, whose then-abolitionist president, Nathan Lord, was "the only seated ...

in Canaan,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. In 1835 it also had to close after violent opposition from local whites. Williams completed her education at the

Oneida Institute The Oneida Institute was a short-lived (1827–1843) but highly influential school that was a national leader in the emerging Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist movement. It was the most radical school in the country, the first at w ...

in New York. Williams became an outspoken advocate of abolition and African-American rights. Returning to Boston on a teaching appointment after her education, she became a member of the

(BFASS) during the 1830s. She was one of four delegates from the BFASS who attended the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women in New York in 1837. In 1841 Williams married

, a teacher, minister, and prominent African-American leader of the abolitionist movement who was based in New York City. They had first met as students at the Noyes Academy; he also completed his education at the

. They had three children but only one, a daughter, survived to adulthood. In 1852, the Garnet family traveled to the Caribbean island of

to work as missionaries. Julia headed a Female Industrial School. They returned to the United States after a few years because of her husband's health needs. They settled in Washington, DC, where he was minister of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church. After the Civil War, Julia Garnet worked with

in the capital. She died in their home in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, on . In 2014 the

Prudence Crandall Museum The Prudence Crandall Museum is a historic house museum, sometimes called the Elisha Payne House for its previous owner. It is located on the southwest corner of the junction of Connecticut Routes Connecticut Route 14, 14 and Connecticut Route ...

was preparing an exhibit interpreting the life of Williams, but the school site has undergone restoration and does not have exhibits as of 2022, only tours.Prudence Crandall Museum
accessed 30 September 2022.

References

Sources

"Students at Prudence Randall's School for African-American Women 1833 – 1834"
State of Connecticut – Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism * Yellin, Jean Fagan ; Van Horne, John C
''The Abolitionist Sisterhood: Women's Political Culture in Antebellum America.''
Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994. * Gold Hansen, Debra
''Strained Sisterhood: Gender and Class in the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society.''
Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993. * Weston, Anne Warren, 1812–1890; Weston, Deborah, b.1814 recipient
[Letter to] My Dear Debora[h] [manuscript] (1837).
Internet Archive. Call number: 39999063210411. Digitizing sponsor: Associates of the Boston Public Library / The Boston Foundation. Book contributor: Boston Public Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Julia 1811 births 1870 deaths Abolitionists from Boston 19th-century American people People from Charleston, South Carolina People from Boston Oneida Institute alumni Noyes Academy students who enrolled at the Oneida Institute