Read Part One HERE
In this post I continue to focus on a woman named Sarah Grimke. She lived from 1792 - 1873.
In the summer of 1837 Sarah and her sister Angelina began a twenty-three week lecture tour of the abolitionist movement, unheard of for women of the time. Financing the trip themselves, the sisters visited sixty-seven cities, breaking new ground for women as public speakers. Sarah felt that she had finally found the place where she truly belonged, where her thoughts and ideas were encouraged.
However, she and Angelina soon faced sever criticism for their public speaking and involvement in the political sphere. Up to this time, it was virtually unheard of for women to speak out so boldly about the most controversial issues of the day. Their lectures were seen as unwomanly because they addressed mixed audiences of women and men - called promiscuous audiences at that time.
The sisters drew condemnation from religious leaders and traditionalists who believed it was not a woman's place to speak in public. Congregational ministers blasted the sisters in a public letter, saying that a woman becomes "unnatural" when she "assumes the place and tone of a man."
Read Part Thirty -Six HERE
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