Deborah Weston
A staunch abolitionist, activist, and educator at heart, Deborah Weston (1814 -????) was key in promoting anti-slavery ideals in Massachusetts, especially in New Bedford and Boston.
Anna Murray Douglass
Anna Murray Douglass (c. 1813-1882), born in freedom in Maryland, secured funds for enslaved Frederick to escape to New York, where the couple would marry before moving to New Bedford.
Jane Jackson
Abolitionist Jane Adora Major Jackson (1814-1888) and her husband, the Reverend William Jackson, secretly sheltered freedom seekers along the Underground Railroad.
Sarah Rotch Arnold
Nineteenth-century New Bedford’s Sarah Rotch Arnold (1786-1860) was dedicated to her community, social reform, religious tolerance, and horticultural beauty.
Elizabeth Piper Ensley
Born in New Bedford to parents who had been enslaved, educator Elizabeth Piper Ensley (1847-1919) was an active leader in African American women’s clubs and the women’s suffrage movement in Colorado.
Emma Louise Piper
Emma Louise Piper (1845-1915) was the first African American teacher in Cambridge, MD after the Civil War. Emma was one of 41 New Bedford men and women, both Black and White, who participated in the efforts to educate the newly freed people.
Ellen Kempton
New Bedford’s Ellen Kempton (1840-1865) lost her life while in South Carolina to educate and assist formerly enslaved people.
Harriet Jacobs
Writer, abolitionist and educator, Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813-1897) is the only African American woman known to have left writing documenting her enslavement.
Mary J. “Polly” Johnson
Confectioner and abolitionist Polly Johnson (1784-1871) specialized in sweets and provided safe lodging to freedom seekers in New Bedford along the Underground Railroad.
Martha Bailey Briggs
Born in 1838 to Black abolitionists, Martha Bailey Briggs (1838-1889) realized at a young age that education was essential to ending slavery.