Angeline Grimke

African-American abolitionist and women's rights pioneer from Charleston elite

Angelina Emily Grimké Weld (1805-1879) emerged from South Carolina's slaveholding aristocracy to become the first Southern white woman to publicly advocate for abolition. Her 1836 pamphlet Appeal to Christian Women of the South urged Southerners to:

• Educate themselves about slavery's horrors
• Emancipate enslaved people immediately
• Petition state legislatures for abolition

Teaming with sister Sarah Moore Grimké, they became the first female agents for the American Anti-Slavery Society, facing violent mobs and censure for speaking to mixed-gender audiences. Their 1838 Letters on the Equality of the Sexes pioneered intersectional arguments connecting racial and gender oppression.

In 1838, Angelina made history by becoming the first American woman to address a state legislature, arguing against slavery before Massachusetts lawmakers. Post-Civil War, she continued activism through the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association, mentoring younger feminists like Lucy Stone.