Speaker 1: Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
Speaker 1: is Womanica. This month, we're highlighting ragers, women who used
Speaker 1: their anger, often righteous, though not always, to accomplish extraordinary things.
Speaker 1: Today we're talking about a black woman who defied societal
Speaker 1: taboos to fight against slavery. Her passionate speeches and essays
Speaker 1: furthered the abolitionist movement and made her one of the
Speaker 1: first American women to become a public speaker. Maria W.
Speaker 1: Stewart was born a free person in Hartford, Connecticut, in
Speaker 1: eighteen o three. We don't know much about her parents,
Speaker 1: except that Maria was orphaned by the time she was
Speaker 1: five years old. She then became an indentured servant to
Speaker 1: a clergyman and his family. She taught herself to read
Speaker 1: and write during this period, taking advantage of the clergyman's
Speaker 1: private library. She remained in his service for a decade.
Speaker 1: After her indentured service ended, Maria moved to Boston. She
Speaker 1: earned a living for a while working as a domestic
Speaker 1: servant until she married James W. Stewart. He was a
Speaker 1: free black man who had served during the War of
Speaker 1: eighteen twelve. When Maria met him, he was working as
Speaker 1: a shipping agent, James had earned enough wealth to put
Speaker 1: the newlywed couple in the small black middle class in
Speaker 1: Boston at a time when black people only made up
Speaker 1: roughly three percent of the city's total population. But Maria's
Speaker 1: days of financial security were short lived. After just three
Speaker 1: years of marriage, her husband died. The white executors of
Speaker 1: his will prevented Maria from claiming his inheritance. The legal
Speaker 1: battle over the estate left her in poverty once again.
Speaker 1: Maria returned to domestic work to support herself in the
Speaker 1: aftermath of James's death. She also turned to religion for comfort.
Speaker 1: Her strengthening faith went hand in hand with a new
Speaker 1: political fervor. She had already been rubbing shoulders in abolitionist
Speaker 1: circles in Boston, even befriending prominent radical abolitionist David Walker.
Speaker 1: Now Maria wanted to become a more vocal part of
Speaker 1: the cause. In eighteen thirty one, William Lloyd Garrison, a
Speaker 1: white abolitionist and publisher, put out a call for black
Speaker 1: writers to contribute to his abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator. Maria
Speaker 1: showed up at his office with a manuscript containing several
Speaker 1: essays for his consideration, William agreed to publish them. In
Speaker 1: the summer of eighteen thirty one, Maria's first ever pamphlet,
Speaker 1: Religion and the Pure Principles of Morality, was published. In it,
Speaker 1: she called for Black Americans to organize together against slavery
Speaker 1: in the South and systemic racism in the North. Maria wrote,
Speaker 1: it is not the color of the skin that makes
Speaker 1: the man, but it is the principles formed within the soul.
Speaker 1: She also advocated for black economic progress, women's rights, and
Speaker 1: the value of widely accessible education. Maria's political activism soon
Speaker 1: went beyond the printed page. In April of eighteen thirty two,
Speaker 1: she stood before a female only crowd at the African
Speaker 1: American Female Intelligence Society to deliver her first ever speech.
Speaker 1: A few months later, Maria delivered a second lecture at
Speaker 1: Franklin Hall in Boston, except this time there were men
Speaker 1: in the audience too. This speech marked one of the
Speaker 1: first recorded instances of an American woman of any race
Speaker 1: speaking publicly, and it was a radical act at the time.
Speaker 1: In Maria's day, only men were allowed to pursue public
Speaker 1: speaking careers. It was considered improper and taboo for women
Speaker 1: to speak in front of crowds, especially in front of men,
Speaker 1: but Maria didn't care. In her Franklin Hall speech, she
Speaker 1: argued that the plight of free black Americans in the
Speaker 1: United States was hardly better than those who were still enslaved.
Speaker 1: She said, look at many of the most worthy and
Speaker 1: most interesting of us doomed to spend our lives in
Speaker 1: gentlemen's kitchens. Maria continued to submit her writing to William
Speaker 1: Lloyd Garrison for publication, though publishing conventions of the time
Speaker 1: relegated her political writings to the ladies department of the paper.
Speaker 1: She also delivered two additional public addresses in Boston. Maria
Speaker 1: used biblical illusions and imagery to sharpen her arguments against
Speaker 1: slavery and white racism. She called on other black women
Speaker 1: to become active members of the abolitionist cause and to
Speaker 1: pursue educational opportunities. But Maria's time in Boston was running short.
Speaker 1: Her defiant stance against moral conventions of the time, especially
Speaker 1: her public speaking, had made her a target for threats
Speaker 1: and ostracization. One account of her public appearances mentions male
Speaker 1: audience members jeering at her and hurling rotten tomatoes. She
Speaker 1: was widely condemned for having the audacity to make public
Speaker 1: political speeches. So in September of eighteen thirty three, Maria
Speaker 1: gave her final address in Boston, announcing her decision to
Speaker 1: leave the city. She moved to New York and launched
Speaker 1: a new career as a public school teacher. She remained
Speaker 1: politically active, participating in women's organizations. In eighteen thirty five,
Speaker 1: William Lloyd Garrison published a collection of her speeches, essays,
Speaker 1: and poems called Productions of Missus Maria W. Stewart. It
Speaker 1: helped expose her work to a broader audience and opened
Speaker 1: the doors for more women to begin lecturing publicly for
Speaker 1: abolition and women's rights. At the outset of the American
Speaker 1: Civil War, Maria was living in Washington, d c. She
Speaker 1: established a school for the children of black Americans who
Speaker 1: escaped slavery during the war. By the early eighteen seventies,
Speaker 1: she was serving as head of housekeeping at the Freedman's
Speaker 1: Hospital and Asylum in Washington. She continued to teach while
Speaker 1: she worked and lived at the hospital. In eighteen seventy eight,
Speaker 1: a new law was passed that granted pensions to widows
Speaker 1: of veterans of the War of eighteen twelve. Maria was
Speaker 1: finally able to gain some money from James's service. She
Speaker 1: used the money to republish her pamphlet, Meditations from the
Speaker 1: Pen of Missus Maria W. Stewart. Shortly after its publication,
Speaker 1: Maria died at Friedman's Hospital. She was seventy six years old.
Speaker 1: All month, we're talking about Rachels. For more information, check
Speaker 1: us out on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast special
Speaker 1: thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator.
Speaker 1: Talk to you tomorrow.