Hester Lane

Last updated November 24, 2024

Hester Lane (died 1849) was an American abolitionist, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and political activist.^[1] Born into slavery in Maryland, she settled down in New York as a free woman.^[2]^[3] Lane was known in New York for her approach to adding color pigment to walls using whitewash,^[4]^[2] freeing slaves in Maryland through purchasing them,^[4] and the controversy surrounding her failed nomination to the American Anti-Slavery Society.^[5] She died in July 1849 during the cholera pandemic.^[2]

Entrepreneurship

Lane was a self-made woman. She created, managed, and ran her own business as a whitewasher, or "decorator," and also taught herself French.^[6] In 1830, the Federal Census listed her as a "Free Black Head of Household."^[4] After meeting Lane in 1833, British writer Edward Strutt Abdy claimed "she had obtained a comfortable competency for herself."^[6]

Buying freedom

Lane not only owned her own home, but through money earned from her business, was able to buy the freedom of others utilizing the ability to enter and exit the South without arising suspicion. By the 1820s, her wealth granted her the ability to buy the freedom of at least eleven people, including entire families. Lane did not just buy the freedom of others, however, she expected those she helped to pay her back when able.^[2] She remained active in some of lives of those she liberated and helped provide access to education to the children she freed.^[6]

Anti-slavery activism

Lane led fundraisers for the New York Committee of Vigilance, an abolitionist group of which she was a member of. She worked alongside David Ruggles in fundraising for William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist newspaper The Liberator.^[5] Lane also served alongside Henrietta Ray, Charles Ray's wife, on the board of managers for the African Dorcas Association, a community aid society in New York.^[7] She also helped in organizing fairs for churches, including Philadelphia's Second African Presbyterian.^[5]

Rejected nomination

As a result of internal conflict in May 1840, supporters of Garrison cemented their control of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) after the "new organizationists" defected and formed the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (AFASS). The "new organizationists" defection created space for women's leadership in the AASS. Charles Ray nominated Lane, a friend of his wife, for the executive committee of the AASS. Although David Lee Child stated that all those in the society enjoyed equal rights "in the Antislavery ranks, without distinctions of sex or color," and that the society's "practice was consistent with its theory," the group rejected Lane's nomination and instead nominated three white women: Maria Chapman, Lydia Maria Child, and Lucretia Mott.^[5] There was much controversy surrounding her rejected nomination.^[8] When reporting on the meeting in The Colored American, Ray blamed racism for the final decision:

"He [David Lee Child] therefore nominated Lucretia Mott, of Philadelphia, as a member of the Executive Committee—carried. . . . Charles Ray, then moved, as there was still one vacancy in the committee, that the name of Hester Lane be added—lost. Hester Lane is well known in this city has a woman of good character and senses, and has been a slave, but the 'principle' could not carry her color. —eh!" ^[9]

Thomas Van Rensselaer, an African American restaurateur, Vigilance Committee activist, and newspaper editor, who was newly approved to the executive committee, rejected Ray's notion that racism was at fault and stated her nomination had been "withdrawn by us, rather reluctantly, by persuasion."^[5] Rensselaer justified his action by stating Lane supported Arthur Tappan's faction in a letter to The Emancipator:

"Hester Lane – an outcry has been made about this individual, being rejected as a member of the Executive Committee of the National Society. . . . Reasons for objecting, because I had a conversation with Mrs. Lane a few days before on the woman question, and found her opposed to us, and strongly in favor of the new organizationists [AFASS]. With those facts before my mind . . . I rose and said the committee was full, although it was found afterwards that another person could have been constitutionally added, so that all the blame, if blame there is, ought to be attached to brother Ray, for nominating a person who he knew, or ought to have known, was opposed to us."^[9]

In her books Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All and All Bound Up Together: The Woman Question in African American Public Culture, 1830-1900, historian and legal scholar Martha S. Jones discusses how Lane's case illustrates the debate among antislavery activists over women's rights,^[5] "one of which women's equality lost out to the color line."^[2]

False accusations

In January 1838, Lane was investigated by a "Committee of Investigation" led by Samuel Hardenburgh for accusations by Martha Johnson stating she had kidnapped and sold slaves. Hardenburgh met at David Ruggles' home to investigate the accusations. Johnson reportedly had a conflict with Lane regarding property she was renting from Lane. In February 1839, at the Ashbury Church, the Investigative Committee announced their ruling in favor of Lane and exonerated her of the charges.^[4]

Following her acquittal, people pursued her under the impression she amassed her fortune from the illicit activities she was accused of and they argued over her innocence outside of the police station. Reportedly, the crowd wanted to lynch her but were discouraged from doing so by the arrival of an armed militia returning from their drills and dispersed shortly after.^[4]

On February 10, 1838, the committee published their report and announced Lane's innocence in The Colored American.^[4]

Later life and death

Shortly after the events of 1840 and the controversy surrounding her nomination, Lane left the antislavery scene. She subsequently died in 1849 from cholera during the epidemic.^[2]

Related Research Articles

The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) was an abolitionist society in the United States. AASS formed in 1833 in response to the nullification crisis and the failures of existing anti-slavery organizations, such as the American Colonization Society. AASS formally dissolved in 1870.

Lydia Maria Child was an American abolitionist, women's rights activist, Native American rights activist, novelist, journalist, and opponent of American expansionism. Her journals, both fiction and domestic manuals, reached wide audiences from the 1820s through the 1850s. At times she shocked her audience as she tried to take on issues of both male dominance and white supremacy in some of her stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Weston Chapman</span> 19th-century American abolitionist

Maria Weston Chapman was an American abolitionist. She was elected to the executive committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1839 and from 1839 until 1842, she served as editor of the anti-slavery journal The Non-Resistant.

Robert Purvis was an American abolitionist in the United States. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and was likely educated at Amherst Academy, a secondary school in Amherst, Massachusetts. He spent most of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1833 he helped found the American Anti-Slavery Society and the Library Company of Colored People. From 1845 to 1850 he served as president of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society and also traveled to Britain to gain support for the movement.

Charlotte Louise Bridges Grimké was an African-American anti-slavery activist, poet, and educator. She grew up in a prominent abolitionist family in Philadelphia. She taught school for years, including during the Civil War, to freedmen in South Carolina. Later in life, she married Francis James Grimké, a Presbyterian minister who led a major church in Washington, DC, for decades. He was a nephew of the abolitionist Grimké sisters and was active in civil rights.

Sarah Parker Remond was an American lecturer, activist and abolitionist campaigner.

Abby Kelley Foster was an American abolitionist and radical social reformer active from the 1830s to 1870s. She became a fundraiser, lecturer and committee organizer for the influential American Anti-Slavery Society, where she worked closely with William Lloyd Garrison and other radicals. She married fellow abolitionist and lecturer Stephen Symonds Foster in 1845, and they both worked for equal rights for women and for Africans enslaved in the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Goodell (abolitionist)</span>

William Goodell was an abolitionist and reformer born in Coventry, New York.

The first Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women was held in New York City on May 9–12, 1837, to discuss the American abolition movement. This gathering represented the first time that women from such a broad geographic area met with the common purpose of promoting the anti-slavery cause among women, and it also was likely the first major convention where women discussed women's rights. Some prominent women went on to be vocal members of the Women's Suffrage Movement, including Lucretia Mott, the Grimké sisters, and Lydia Maria Child. After the first convention in 1837, there were also conventions in 1838 and 1839

The Liberty Party was an abolitionist political party in the United States before the American Civil War. The party experienced its greatest activity during the 1840s, while remnants persisted as late as 1860. It supported James G. Birney in the presidential elections of 1840 and 1844. Others who attained prominence as leaders of the Liberty Party included Gerrit Smith, Salmon P. Chase, Henry Highland Garnet, Henry Bibb, and William Goodell. They attempted to work within the federal system created by the United States Constitution to diminish the political influence of the Slave Power and advance the cause of universal emancipation and an integrated, egalitarian society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underground Railroad in Indiana</span>

The Underground Railroad in Indiana was part of a larger, unofficial, and loosely-connected network of groups and individuals who aided and facilitated the escape of runaway slaves from the southern United States. The network in Indiana gradually evolved in the 1830s and 1840s, reached its peak during the 1850s, and continued until slavery was abolished throughout the United States at the end of the American Civil War in 1865. It is not known how many fugitive slaves escaped through Indiana on their journey to Michigan and Canada. An unknown number of Indiana's abolitionists, anti-slavery advocates, and people of color, as well as Quakers and other religious groups illegally operated stations along the network. Some of the network's operatives have been identified, including Levi Coffin, the best-known of Indiana's Underground Railroad leaders. In addition to shelter, network agents provided food, guidance, and, in some cases, transportation to aid the runaways.

The Emancipator (1833–1850) was an American abolitionist newspaper, at first published in New York City and later in Boston. It was founded as the official newspaper of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS). From 1840 to 1850, it was published by the Liberty Party; the publication changed names several times as it merged with other abolitionist newspapers in Boston.

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 multistate petition campaign, sued southerners who brought slaves into Boston, and sponsored elaborate, profitable fundraisers."

The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (PFASS) was founded in December 1833, a few days after the first meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society, and dissolved in March 1870 following the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. It was founded by eighteen women, including Lucretia Mott, Mary Ann M'Clintock, Margaretta Forten, her mother Charlotte, and Forten's sisters Sarah and Harriet.

Sarah Mapps Douglass was an American educator, abolitionist, writer, and public lecturer. Her painted images on her written letters may be the first or earliest surviving examples of signed paintings by an African American woman. These paintings are contained within the Cassey Dickerson Album, a rare collection of 19th-century friendship letters between a group of women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John T. Hilton</span> American abolitionist and businessman (1801–1864)

John Telemachus Hilton was an African-American abolitionist, author, and businessman, who established barber, furniture dealer, and employment agency businesses. He was a Prince Hall Mason and established the Prince Hall National Grand Lodge of North America and served as its first National Grand Master for ten years. He also was a founding member of the Massachusetts General Colored Association, and active member and author in the Anti-Slavery movement.

In the United States, abolitionism, the movement that sought to end slavery in the country, was active from the colonial era until the American Civil War, the end of which brought about the abolition of American slavery, except as punishment for a crime, through the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Forten Purvis</span> American abolitionist (1810–1875)

Harriet Forten Purvis was an African-American abolitionist and first generation suffragist. With her mother and sisters, she formed the first biracial women's abolitionist group, the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. She hosted anti-slavery events at her home and with her husband Robert Purvis ran an Underground Railroad station. Robert and Harriet also founded the Gilbert Lyceum. She fought against segregation and for the right for blacks to vote after the Civil War.

Amy Hester "Hetty" Reckless was a runaway slave who became part of the American abolitionist movement. She campaigned against slavery and was part of the Underground Railroad, operating a Philadelphia safe house. She fought against prostitution and vice, working toward improving education and skills for the black community. Through efforts including operating a women's shelter, supporting Sunday Schools and attending conferences, she became a leader in the abolitionist community. After her former enslaver's death, she returned to New Jersey and continued working to assist escaping slaves throughout the Civil War.

Sarah Louisa Forten Purvis (1814–1884) was an American poet and abolitionist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She co-founded The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society and contributed many poems to the anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator.

References

↑ Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. The Underground Railroad : an encyclopedia of people, places, and operations. London [England]. p. 314. ISBN 978-1-315-69887-8. OCLC 908062431.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Jones, Martha (2020). Vanguard. Basic Books. ISBN 9781541618619.
↑ Harris, Leslie M. (Leslie Maria) (2003). In the shadow of slavery : African Americans in New York City, 1626–1863. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 221–222. ISBN 978-0-226-31775-5. OCLC 646067953.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Braithwaite, Jamila Shabazz (2014). The Black Vigilance Movement in Nineteenth Century New York City (Master's thesis). City College of New York.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Jones, Martha S. (2007). All bound up together : the woman question in African American public culture, 1830–1900. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-8890-2. OCLC 647832684.
1 2 3 Abdy, E. S.. “Journal of a residence and tour in the United States of North America, from April, 1833, to October, 1834.” (2011).
↑ Peterson, Carla L. (2011). Black Gotham : a family history of African Americans in nineteenth-century New York City. New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-16255-4. OCLC 664840167.
↑ Sinha, Manisha (2016). The slave's cause : a history of abolition. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-300-18137-1. OCLC 920017303.
1 2 Yee, Shirley J. (1992). Black women abolitionists : a study in activism, 1828–1860 (1st ed.). Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 0-87049-735-9. OCLC 24066962.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. The Underground Railroad : an encyclopedia of people, places, and operations. London [England]. p. 314. ISBN 978-1-315-69887-8. OCLC 908062431.

[:0-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jones, Martha (2020). Vanguard. Basic Books. ISBN 9781541618619.

[3] Harris, Leslie M. (Leslie Maria) (2003). In the shadow of slavery : African Americans in New York City, 1626–1863. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 221–222. ISBN 978-0-226-31775-5. OCLC 646067953.

[:1-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Braithwaite, Jamila Shabazz (2014). The Black Vigilance Movement in Nineteenth Century New York City (Master's thesis). City College of New York.

[:3-5] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jones, Martha S. (2007). All bound up together : the woman question in African American public culture, 1830–1900. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-8890-2. OCLC 647832684.

[:2-6] 1 2 3 Abdy, E. S.. “Journal of a residence and tour in the United States of North America, from April, 1833, to October, 1834.” (2011).

[7] Peterson, Carla L. (2011). Black Gotham : a family history of African Americans in nineteenth-century New York City. New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-16255-4. OCLC 664840167.

[8] Sinha, Manisha (2016). The slave's cause : a history of abolition. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-300-18137-1. OCLC 920017303.

[:4-9] 1 2 Yee, Shirley J. (1992). Black women abolitionists : a study in activism, 1828–1860 (1st ed.). Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 0-87049-735-9. OCLC 24066962.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]