Antislavery Activism in Lowell
Documents

Although their numbers were relatively small compared to the total population of the city, antislavery activists appeared in every corner of Lowell’s population – from mill girls and mill bosses to business owners and clergymen. This collection contains petitions, articles, poetry, sermons, and literature that support the antislavery cause.

To what degree did Lowell’s white residents engage in antislavery activities? What were their motivations? What risks did they face? How did other people respond to their efforts?

Document 25: Mr. Thompson’s Journal [George Thompson’s Account of His Visit to Lowell], November 30-December 2, 1834

Document 26: “The Diary of Rev. Theodore Edson,” March 19, 1839

Document 27: “The Clergy of Middlesex County,” The Liberator, October 29, 1841

Document 28: “Another [Antislavery] Meeting,” Letter from H.W. Foster to William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator, May 4, 1843

Document 29: “Our Colored Citizens,” Lowell Courier, August 13, 1844

Document 30: "The Black Man," The Stranger in Lowell, John Greenleaf Whittier, 1845

Document 31: "The Whip of Necessity," The Voice of Industry, September 18, 1845

Document 32: “Anti-Texas Meeting at Lowell,” The Liberator, November 28, 1845

Document 33: “Letter from a Factory-Girl [Clementine Averill] to Senator Clemens,” The New York Weekly Tribune, March 6, 1850

Document 34: “Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral” Advertisement, The Liberator, May 3, 1850

Document 35: “To the Honorable Linus Child,” Letter from Rev. Charles Adams to Linus Child on Fugitive Slave Act, Lowell Tri-Weekly American, November 15, 1850

Document 36: Anti-Fugitive Slave Act Petition, Lowell, 1851

Document 37: “A Call To Kansas!,” A poem by Lucy Larcom, 1855

Document 38: “A Report on School Desegregation,” The Liberator, March 30, 1855

Document 39: Sermon preached by Rev. Eden B. Foster on John Brown’s Raid, John Street Congregational Church, Lowell, November 16, 1859

Print entire document collection transcripts.

Antislavery Activism in LowellDocuments