Abigail Hopper Gibbons

Abigail Hopper Gibbons

Abigail Hopper Gibbons, (December 7, 1801 – January 16, 1893) was an American abolitionist, schoolteacher, and social welfare activist. She assisted in founding and led several nationally known societies for social reform during and following the Civil War.

She grew up in Philadelphia in a Quaker family; her father, Isaac Hopper, opposed slavery and aided fugitive slaves. She grew to share her father's beliefs and spent much of her life working for social reform in several fields. She was prominent during and after the war, when her work in Philadelphia, Washington, DC and New York City included civil rights and education for blacks, prison reform for women, medical care for Union officers during the war, aid to veterans returning from the Civil War, to help them find work; and welfare.

In 1841, the New York Monthly Meeting disowned Gibbons' father and husband for their anti-slavery writing. Abigail Gibbons resigned the following year, also removing her minor children.