Susan Paul (1809–1841) was an African-American
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
from
Boston, Massachusetts. A primary school teacher and 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 ...
, Paul also wrote the first biography of an African American published in the United States. The book, ''Memoir of James Jackson'', was published in 1835.
Early life
Paul was the youngest daughter of Baptist minister
Thomas Paul and Catherine Waterhouse Paul. An outspoken social activist, Thomas Paul introduced Susan to the
anti-slavery
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The Britis ...
movement and many of the movement's most prominent players, such as
David Walker and
Lydia Maria Child
Lydia Maria Child ( Francis; February 11, 1802October 20, 1880) was an American abolitionist, women's rights activist, Native American rights activist, novelist, journalist, and opponent of American expansionism.
Her journals, both fiction and ...
.
Abolitionism and the Juvenile Choir
Paul began her abolitionist career with the
New England Anti-Slavery Society
The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, headquartered in Boston, was organized as an auxiliary of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1835. Its roots were in the New England Anti-Slavery Society, organized by William Lloyd Garrison, editor of ...
(NEASS), a group that was significantly more receptive to women than other anti-slavery societies. In 1833, an assembly of men from NEASS, led by
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper '' The Liberator'', which he found ...
visited Paul's classroom, and were overwhelmed by the musical performances that Paul's students provided. As a result, Paul was invited to attend NEASS meetings with her students. Known as the Juvenile Choir of Boston, Paul's African-American students ranged from ages three to ten and sang patriotic and anti-slavery songs. The Juvenile Choir would also sing at concerts and various anti-slavery events in Boston. During the two years in which they performed, Paul's choir received rave reviews, and oftentimes, the halls in which they performed were so crowded that people were denied entry.
[ Under Paul's guidance, "The choir's singing...meant that African American voices would quite literally be heard and would prevent the anti-slavery struggle from becoming an abstract enterprise whose goals were articulated only by white reformers."] By teaching her students songs about slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, Paul was able to inform young African-American children about Northern abolitionism and expand the African-American anti-slavery movement.
After 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 ...
(BFASS) was formed as an auxiliary of NEASS, Paul was welcomed as one of the first African-American members. Through her work with BFASS, she inspired other African-Americans to join the anti-slavery movement and motivated women to join social justice movements. According to Lois Brown, author and scholar of African-American history, Paul helped to "redefine early republican notions of feminine virtue."
Temperance
Paul together with Jane Putnam and Nancy Prince founded a temperance society
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders empha ...
in the 1830s. The group succeeded in having 114 African-Americans take the "cold water pledge" against liquor in 1833.
Publication
Paul wrote just one book: a biography entitled ''Memoir of James Jackson'' published in 1835. James Jackson was one of Paul's students at Boston's Primary School Number 6 who died at just six years of age. Unfortunately, Paul's writing career was cut short when she died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
in 1841.
See also
* List of African-American abolitionists
See also :African-American abolitionists
A
* William G. Allen (c. 1820 – 1 May 1888)
* Osborne Perry Anderson B
* Henry Walton Bibb
* Mary E. Bibb
* James Bradley
* Henry Box Brown
* William Wells Brown C
* John Anthony Copeland Jr.
* Elle ...
* Abolitionism in the United States
In the United States, abolitionism, the movement that sought to end slavery in the country, was active from the late colonial era until the American Civil War, the end of which brought about the abolition of American slavery through the Thi ...
* African-American literature
African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. It begins with the works of such late 18th-century writers as Phillis Wheatley. Before the high point of slave narratives, African ...
* Boston Women's Heritage Trail
The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston, Massachusetts, leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, commemorating w ...
External links
Text of ''Memoir of James Jackson: The Attentive and Obedient Scholar, who Died in Boston, October 31, 1833, Aged Six Years and Eleven Months.''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Susan
1809 births
1841 deaths
19th century in Boston
19th-century American women writers
19th-century American writers
Abolitionists from Boston
Activists for African-American civil rights
African-American abolitionists
African-American writers
American biographers
American temperance activists
American women activists
American women non-fiction writers
American women biographers
Writers from Boston
19th-century African-American writers
19th-century African-American women writers
African-American temperance activists
Paul family of New England