US History

Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)

Social Movements

Women

This collection uses primary sources to explore women&#39;s involvement in the Antebellum Reform movement.

Teaching Guide: Exploring Women of the Antebellum Reform Movement

A portrait of Dorothea Dix, an advocate for the indigent insane who helped establish the US’s first mental asylums.

Excerpt from a biography quoting a letter from the superintendent of McClean Asylum that supports Dix’s work for the mentally ill.

An excerpt from an address by Emma Willard to the New York State Legislature proposing a plan for improving female education.

A postcard showing a statue of Emma Willard on the campus of Russell Sage College, a women’s college started by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage.

A letter from Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton about women’s rights and education for women, May 26, 1856.

An excerpt from a chapter on the benefits of education in the 1848 book *A Treatise on Domestic Economy* by Catherine Beecher.

An excerpt from a catalogue for the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, 1835. 

A portrait of Prudence Crandall, an advocate for racially integrated classrooms and education for African American girls.

An excerpt from a biography of William Lloyd Garrison with an 1833 letter from Prudence Crandall about teaching African American girls.

A letter from Anne Weston Warren to the Female Anti-Slavery Society, 1837.

An 1837 letter from Angelina Grimke to Amos Phelps in which she discusses the abolition of slavery and the equality of men and women. 

An excerpt from Maria W. Stewart’s *Meditations* with a letter from William Lloyd Garrison that describes Stewart’s abolitionist work. 

A 1902 portrait of Frances Harper, an African American abolitionist, suffragist, and poet.

Resources

1. [Women’s Reform Movement](http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/beyond-the-textbook/24124), Teachinghistory.org. 
2. “[Women and Abolitionism](http://www.abolitionseminar.org/women-and-abolitionism/),” The Abolition Seminar, Library Company of Philadelphia. 
3. “[Notable People](http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/people.html),” *Women Working, 1800-1830*, Harvard University Library Open Collections Program. 

Overview

The 1830s and 1840s was an era of reform and revival for the United States. In the wake of the spiritual renewal of the Second Great Awakening, many were demanding religious and societal change in order to provide for marginalized people. Women took a leadership role in reform efforts, tackling a broad range of issues from prisons to education to the abolition of slavery. Ultimately, many diverse campaigns merged into activism against slavery. Women reformers saw results of their efforts during these decades, though some of their goals would have to wait till after the upheaval of the 1850s and the bloodshed of the Civil War in the 1860s. This set highlights several women reformers. For more information on the women’s suffrage movement in particular, see the primary source set on [Women’s Suffrage](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sets/women-s-suffrage-the-campaign-for-the-nineteenth-amendment). For a broader picture of the abolitionist movement, visit the source set on [The American Abolitionist Movement](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sets/the-american-abolitionist-movement).


English

Women of the Antebellum Reform Movement

women-antebellum-reform-movement_01_c7ca1ecc6282ce5873d3bf5d94d63fcc.jpg

“Dorothea L. Dix,” Digital Public Library of America, http://dp.la/item/c7ca1ecc6282ce5873d3bf5d94d63fcc.

Dorothea L. Dix

The New York Public Library

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection. The New York Public Library

A portrait of Dorothea Dix, an advocate for the indigent insane who helped establish the US’s first mental asylums.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 1 of 13 in the Primary Source Set Women of the Antebellum Reform Movement