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Black Abolitionist Archive
William Andrew Jackson
Colored American - November 10, 1838
Provincial Freeman - July 5, 1856
William Wells Brown
Pacific Appeal - January 24, 1863
Weekly Advocate - January 7, 1837
Colored American - July 17, 1841
James McCune Smith
Weekly Anglo-African - November 23, 1861
Josiah Jones
Colored American - July 28, 1838
Jacob C. White
Voice of the Fugitive - July 2, 1851
Voice of the Fugitive - January 29, 1852

From the 1820s to the Civil War, African Americans assumed prominent roles in the transatlantic struggle to abolish slavery. In contrast to the popular belief that the abolitionist crusade was driven by wealthy whites, some 300 black abolitionists were regularly involved in the antislavery movement, heightening its credibility and broadening its agenda. The Black Abolitionist Digital Archive is a collection of over 800 speeches by antebellum blacks and approximately 1,000 editorials from the period. These important documents provide a portrait of black involvement in the anti-slavery movement; scans of these documents are provided as images and PDF files.For assistance with this collection, please contact the the University Archivist, Mara Powell at 313-993-1950 or the library reference desk at 313-993-1071. You may also email the reference desk for assistance at edesk@udmercy.edu.

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