Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Organized in 1833 by Quaker abolitionist Lucretia Mott, this society, headquartered here, originally consisted of sixty women who sought to end slavery. After the Civil War, the society supported the cause of the freed slaves.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In 1833, Quaker reformer Lucretia Mott helped organize this society of some sixty women dedicated to ending slavery, headquartered on this spot. Barred from full participation in male-led abolition groups, these women built their own influential organization, raising funds and rallying support for emancipation. After the Civil War, they turned their energies to aiding the newly freed, extending their reform work into a new era.
Why it matters
One of the earliest interracial women's antislavery groups, it fused the abolition and early women's rights movements that Mott would help lead for decades.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- National Constitution Centernearby · 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Independence Visitor Center0.1 mi away · 599 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Museum of Illusions Philadelphia0.2 mi away · 401 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- African American Museum in Philadelphia0.2 mi away · 701 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History0.2 mi away · 101 South Independence Mall East, Philadelphia, PA
- Betsy Ross House0.2 mi away · 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
Attractions
- U.S. Mint at Philadelphia Tournearby
- Benjamin Franklin Gravenearby
- President's House0.2 mi away
- Liberty Bell0.3 mi away · 526 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Second Bank of the United States0.3 mi away · 420 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Elfreth's Alley0.3 mi away
Food & drink
- Independence Mall Cafenearby · 50 North Independence Mall East, Philadelphia
- Bubble Tea Room0.2 mi away · 319 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- 3J's Cafe0.2 mi away · 317 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- La Colombe Coffee Roasters0.2 mi away
- Fork0.2 mi away · 306 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- PrimoHoagies0.2 mi away · 304 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
Places to stay
- Wyndham Philadelphia Historic Districtnearby · 400 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Renaissance Philadelphia Downtown Hotel0.3 mi away · 401 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- The Philadelphia House0.3 mi away · 17 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Best Western Plus Independence Park Hotel0.3 mi away · 237 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Apple Hostels0.3 mi away · 33 Bank Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Apple Hostels Philadelphia0.3 mi away · 32 South Bank Street, Philadelphia, PA
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Related people
- · Lucretia Mott
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Joseph and Amy Cassey (1789-1848)/(1809-56)
Philadelphia, PA · est. 2009
In the decades before the Civil War, Philadelphia was home to a thriving community of free Black Americans who built their own institutions of self-help and reform. Joseph Cassey, a prosperous barber and real-estate dealer, extended rentals and loans to Black and white customers alike, while he and his wife Amy founded benevolent and intellectual societies. Amy Cassey was also active in the Female Anti-Slavery Society, part of a network of women driving the abolitionist cause.
Frances E.W. Harper (1825-1911)
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In the decades before and after the Civil War, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was among the most widely read and widely heard Black voices in America—a poet, novelist, and traveling lecturer who took the abolitionist and, later, equal-rights cause to audiences across the country. From this Philadelphia home she wrote and organized, insisting that education was the surest road to advancement for Black Americans. Her work bridged the antislavery struggle and the reform movements of the later 19th century.
Pennsylvania Hall
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Built in 1838 by the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, Pennsylvania Hall was meant to be a grand meeting place where abolitionists could gather freely in a city long divided over slavery. Just three days after its opening, an anti-Black mob set the building ablaze and burned it to the ground while authorities stood by. The attack laid bare the fierce hostility abolitionists faced even in the North.
The Escape of Ona Judge
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Ona Judge was brought to Philadelphia as an enslaved servant of Martha Washington while the city served as the young nation's capital. In May 1796 she slipped away from the President's House and made her way to New Hampshire, aided by Philadelphia's free Black community. Even the president's efforts to reclaim her failed, as federal officials declined to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act on his behalf, and Judge lived out her life in freedom.