2278044Woman of the Century — Mary Grew

GREW, Miss Mary, anti-slavery agitator and preacher, born in Hartford, Conn., 1st September, 1813. Her childhood and early youth were spent there. In 1834 she removed to Boston, Mass., and afterwards to Philadelphia, Pa., where she still resides. The principal work of her life has been performed in the interest of our colored population. By inheritance and training she was a radical Abolitionist. When the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society was organized, she became a member of it. MARY GREW. On her removal to Philadelphia she joined the Female Anti-Slavery Society of that city, became its corresponding secretary, and wrote its annual reports until 1870, when the society disbanded. She was a member of the Woman's Anti-Slavery Convention in 1838, which held its sessions in Pennsylvania Hall, surrounded by a furious mob, which destroyed the building by fire a few hours after the convention adjourned. Her public speaking was for many years confined to anti-slavery platforms almost exclusively. That cause demanded much of its advocates during the years when their number was few and the name of Abolitionist was counted odious in church and State, After slavery was abolished and the fifteenth amendment of the United States Constitution was ratified, she devoted her energies and time to other reforms, especially to the enfranchisement of women. She became a member of a Unitarian Church, in which there were no distinctions based upon sex. There she commenced the work of occasional preaching. She found the pulpits of Unitarian churches freely opened to her, and in northern New England also the pulpits of Free-will Baptists, Methodists and Congregational churches. She was one of the founders of the New Century Club, of Philadelphia. She was also one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association, and is still its president.