Edmonson Sisters
Mary Edmonson (1832–1853) and Emily Edmonson (1835–1895), "two respectable young women of light complexion", were African Americans who became celebrities in the United States abolitionist movement after gaining their freedom from slavery. On April 15, 1848, they were among the seventy-seven slaves who tried to escape from Washington, DC on the schooner The Pearl to sail up the Chesapeake Bay to freedom in New Jersey.
Although that effort failed, they were freed from slavery by funds raised by the Congregational Church in Brooklyn, New York, whose pastor was Henry Ward Beecher, an abolitionist. After gaining freedom, the Edmonsons were supported to go to school; they also worked. They campaigned with Beecher throughout the North for the end of slavery in the United States.
Read more about Edmonson Sisters: Early Life, Escape Attempt, New Orleans, Henry Ward Beecher, Fugitive Slave Law Convention, Oberlin College, Normal School For Colored Girls, Later Life, Legacy and Honors, Other Representation
Famous quotes containing the word sisters:
“Sisters is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)