The Grimke Sisters from South Carolina: Pioneers for Woman's Rights and Abolition

The only Southern white women ever to become leading abolitionists, Sarah and Angelina Grimk encountered many obstacles and leapt many hurdles in pursuing their anti-slavery work. Their greatest accomplishment was overcoming the ubiquitous prejudices of society in regard to women. Indeed, they were the first women to take to the public platform and the first to assert women's rights. In The Grimk Sisters from South Carolina, Gerda Lerner, herself a leading historian and pioneer in women's studies, tells the compelling history of these determined sisters and the inroads they made for women and blacks alike. From their wealthy upbringing in Charleston, South Carolina, the societal restraints that kept them from higher education, and their utter contempt of slavery, to their conversion to the Quaker religion, and monumental achievements at the podium and with the pen, Lerner illuminates the lasting contributions of the Grimk sisters, as well as the important role played by women in the anti-slavery movement.