The Religious World of Antislavery Women: Spirituality in the Lives of Five Abolitionist Lecturers

Anna M. Speicher has written a fine study of five female abolitionists-Angelina Grimke, Sarah Grimke, Lucretia Mott, Abby Kelley, and Sallie Holley. Her book is an important contribution to the history of antebellum nineteenth-century United States reform, women, and religion. First and foremost, Speicher places spirituality at the center of the women's lives. Intuitive rather than institutional, a deep and abiding faith guided their private and public character, so much so that their "political activity was an outgrowth of their religious conviction." According to the author, recent feminist scholarship has often elided this point.The book deftly weaves the biographies of each abolitionist with an exploration of political and social issues. Speicher provides a lively narrative of this group of like-minded females who all suffered from what she describes as a "double-marginalization." Their marginalization was a direct result of their dedication to black freedom as well as their daring desire to speak in public about the terrible sin of slavery. The resultant denunciations from many ministers and fellow reformers bound the women tightly in a web of faith, love, support, and community. This community gave them the courage to persist and succeed. In turn, all would serve as mentors for the next generation of women activists, such as the Civil War figure Anna Dickinson. The Religious World of Antislavery Women is an excellent exploration of the link between thought and action in an era when religion endowed women with the power to protest as well as to pray.Joan Waugh University of California at Los Angeles