Abolitionists

Abolitionist and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth is best known for her speech on racial inequalities, "Ain't I a Woman?" delivered at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in 1851.

Harriet Tubman escaped slavery to become a leading abolitionist. She led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom along the route of the Underground Railroad.

Susan B. Anthony was a suffragist, abolitionist, author and speaker who was the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was an author and social activist best known for her popular anti-slavery novel 'Uncle Tom’s Cabin.'

Pioneering African American writer Richard Wright is best known for the classic texts 'Black Boy' and 'Native Son.'

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He preserved the Union during the U.S. Civil War and brought about the emancipation of slaves.

William Seward was a New York governor and U.S. senator before serving as secretary of state under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.

Frederick Douglass was a leader in the abolitionist movement, an early champion of women’s rights and author of ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.’

John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States. He was also the eldest son of President John Adams, the second U.S. president.

Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, prompting a bloody conflict over Kansas' slavery status.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines was a military leader who worked with Toussaint L'Ouverture and gave the country of Haiti its name.

Solomon Northup was an African American farmer and musician who was taken hostage and sold into slavery in 1841. His story is told in the film '12 Years a Slave.'

William Lloyd Garrison was an American journalistic crusader who helped lead the successful abolitionist campaign against slavery in the United States.

In 1829, African American abolitionist David Walker wrote an incendiary pamphlet that argued for the end of slavery and discrimination in the United States.

American essayist, poet and practical philosopher, Henry David Thoreau was a New England Transcendentalist and author of the book 'Walden.'

Benjamin Rush is best known for his political activities during the American Revolution, including signing the Declaration of Independence.

Lucretia Mott was a leading social reformer of her time and helped to form the Free Religious Association.

James Garfield is best known as the 20th president of the United States. He was assassinated after only a few months in office.

Abolitionist Martin Robison Delany was both a physician and newspaper editor and became one of the most influential and successful anti-slavery activists of the 19th century.

Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an active abolitionist and the first female African American newspaper editor in North America.

Poet and orator Frances E.W. Harper, the child of two free black parents, publicly advocated for abolition and education through speeches and publications.

Mum Bett (Elizabeth Freeman) was among the first enslaved people in Massachusetts to successfully sue for her freedom, encouraging the state to abolish slavery.