Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Black Women In Antebellum America: Active Agents In The Fight For Freedom, Sandra M. Grayson

William Monroe Trotter Institute Publications

The most prominent images of Black women in antebellum America depicted in classes across the United States are of passive victims as opposed to active agents of change. The names and deeds of Black women like Frances E. W. Harper, Maria Stewart, Sarah Mapps Douglass, and Sarah Jane Giddings are not an integral part of American education. Further, most history books overlook Black women's roles in antebellum America — oversights which can be considered suppression through historical omission. In order to reflect a more accurate picture of American history, public and private school curriculums need to include texts by and …