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Anna E. Dickinson, 1842-1932
Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Anna E. Dickinson first displayed her social conscience publicly at the age of fourteen, when she contributed an antislavery article to William Lloyd Garrison's newspaper, The Liberator. Four years later she delivered her first speech before the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. Encouraged by Lucretia Mott and others, Dickinson began speaking regularly during the years of the Civil War on such issues as emancipation, hospital life, and Republican politics. Her youth and sex alone were enough to draw curious crowds of sometimes thousands to hear her "impassioned extempore delivery." With the return to peace in 1865, Dickinson joined the lyceum lecture circuit. Some years she averaged 150 lectures and earned as much as $20,000. Her topics ranged from women's rights to the evils of big business. In the 1870s, Dickinson became a playwright and an actor.
Mathew B. Brady, c 1863 |