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.
New Bedford prepared physician and political agitator Marie Equi (1872-1952) for a lifetime of
social justice advocacy. Marie’s Oregon medical practice and nationwide activism were
influenced by her working class experiences while growing up in New Bedford.