Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1756

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.4 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Mary Grew collection of newspaper clippings related to equal rights legislation in the House of Representatives and the Senate, 1865-1870, 1889, Ms. Coll. 1756, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1865-1870, 1889 (inclusive)

Form:

Clippings (information artifacts), Legislative records, and Scrapbooks

Abstract:

Mary Grew (1813-1896) was an American abolitionist, suffragist, and journalist who fought for equal rights for Black Americans and women throughout her career. This collection contains clippings documenting the legislative debates relating to reconstruction, civil rights, and the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It is likely that she used these clippings, the bulk of which may be from the Congressional Globe, from 1865 to 1870, for research. There is also one woman's right leaflet with an article entitled "Equal Rights for Women," which dates from 1889.

Mary Grew was born in 1813 in Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Henry Grew (1781-1862), a religious teacher and writer and an abolitionist, and Kate Merrow. She was educated at Catherine Beecher's Hartford Female Seminary. In 1834, the family moved to Philadelphia and she joined the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. She served as a leader in that society as well as the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society and served as a representatives at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London.

Grew was an early journalist, writing for both the Pennsylvania Freeman and the National Anti-Slavery Standard. She focused attention on abolition and equal rights for formerly enslaved people after the Civil War until the ratification of the 15th Amendment (February 3, 1870). Following the ratification of the 15th Amendment, Grew's focused on suffrage, in part because of the way in which women were treated at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840. She was a founder of the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association, serving as its president.

Grew lived with her companion, Margaret Jones Burleigh, from the mid-1950s until Burleigh's death in 1891. She became a member of a Unitarian Church, occasionally preaching to congregations. She was one of the founders of the New Century Club, one of the first women's clubs in the United States. Grew died in Philadelphia on October 10, 1896, aged 83.

This collection contains clippings documenting the legislative debates relating to reconstruction, civil rights, and the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It is likely that she used these clippings, the bulk of which may be from the Congressional Globe, from 1865 to 1870, for research. The clippings are extremely fragile, pasted into paper-bound notebooks. Many of the clippings are folded and are breaking at the folds. In addition to the pasted-in articles, there are notes made by Grew. For the most part, the notes will simply state a date (the articles are not dated) and whether the discussion happened in the House of Representatives or the Senate. On occasion, a little more detail is added; but it is generally factual and does not express Grew's opinion. Articles generally have a heading: "Civil Rights" "Reconstruction Committee" and "Universal Suffrage," as examples; and then describe the issue debated, and any resolutions. If a vote was held, there is a record of the votes listing representatives' names and their vote (yeas, nays, and not voting).

While these clippings are in no way unique to this collection, Grew's selection of specific articles and their inclusion in the notebooks is unique.

There is also one woman's right leaflet with an article, by George William Curtis (1824-1892) entitled "Equal Rights for Women," which dates from January 15, 1889. The article is published in Woman Suffrage Leaflet, Volume II, Issue No. 12, a publication of the American Woman Suffrage Association.