Susan Paul
Susan Paul | |
---|---|
Boston, Massachusetts , US | |
Occupations |
|
Susan Paul (1809–1841) was an
Early life
Paul was the youngest daughter of
Abolitionism and the Juvenile Choir
Paul began her abolitionist career with the New England Anti-Slavery Society (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 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 also performed 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.[3] 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."[3] By teaching her students songs about slavery, Paul was able to inform young African American children about Northern abolitionism and expand the African American anti-slavery movement.[3]
After the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS) was formed as an auxiliary of NEASS, Paul became one of the first African American members of the group. 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 scholar Lois Brown, Paul helped to "redefine early republican notions of feminine virtue."[3]
Temperance
Paul together with Jane Putnam and Nancy Prince founded a temperance society in the 1830s.[4] The group succeeded in having 114 African Americans take the "cold water pledge" against liquor in 1833.[5]
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. Her book was advertised in the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator and printed by James Loring, but the Orthodox Congregational Sabbath School Society and the Baptist Sabbath School Society would not accept her work.[6] Unfortunately, Paul's writing career was cut short when she died of tuberculosis in 1841.[1]
See also
- List of African-American abolitionists
- Abolitionism in the United States
- African-American literature
- Boston Women's Heritage Trail
External links
References
- ^ a b Yee, Shirley (11 February 2007). "Paul, Susan (1809–1841)". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Susan Paul Residence". Massachusetts Center for the Book. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Brown, Lois (2002). Out of the Mouths of Babes: The Abolitionist Campaign of Susan Paul and the Juvenile Choir of Boston. The New England Quarterly. pp. 52–79.
- ISBN 978-0-87049-736-0.
- ISBN 0-89073-083-0.
- ^ "Susan Paul (U.S. National Park Service)". National Park Service. Retrieved 11 March 2024.