Hester Lane was an American abolitionist, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and political activist. Born into slavery in Maryland, Lane settled down in New York as a free woman. [1] Lane was known in New York for her "whitewashing," [1] or rather her approach to adding color pigment to walls, [2] as well as for freeing slaves in Maryland through purchases. [2]
Buying Freedom
editLane was a self-made woman. She created, managed, and ran her own business as a whitewasher, or "decorator," and even taught herself French. [3] In 1830, the Federal Census listed Lane as a "Free Black Head of Household." [2] After meeting Lane in 1833, British writer Edward Strutt Abdy claimed "she had obtained a comfortable competency for herself." [3]
Lane not only owned her own home, but through money earned through her business, was able to buy the freedom of others. By the 1820s her wealth granted her the ability to buy the freedom of at least eleven people, including entire families. Lane possessed the ability to enter and exit the South without creating alarm. Lane did not just buy the freedom of others, however, she expected those she helped to pay her back when able. [1] She remained active in some of lives of those she liberated and helped have the children educated. [3]
Activism
editLane led fundraisers for the New York Committee of Vigilance. She worked alongside David Ruggles in fundraising for William Lloyd Garrison's Liberator. [4] Lane served alongside Henrietta Ray on the board of managers for the African Dorcas Association.[5] Lane also aided in organizing fairs for churches, among them was Philadelphia's Second African Presbyterian. [4]
Rejected Nomination
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As a result of internal conflict in May of 1840, Garrisonians cemented their control of the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) after the "new organizationists" defected and formed the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (AFASS). The "new organizationists" absence opened up space for women's leadership within the society. Charles Ray nominated Lane, a friend of his wife, for the executive committee of the AASS. Although David Lee Child stated that all those in the society enjoyed equal rights "in the Antislavery ranks, without distinctions of sex or color," and that the society's "practice was consistent with its theory," the group rejected Lane's nomination and instead nominated three white women: Maria Chapman, Lydia Maria Child, and Lucretia Mott. [4] After the meeting in 1840, Lane left the antislavery scene. She died in July of 1849 during the cholera epidemic. [1] There was a lot of controversy surrounding her failed nomination. When reporting on the proceedings in The Colored American, Ray blamed racism for her failed nomination:
"He [David Lee Child] therefore nominated Lucretia Mott, of Philadelphia, as a member of the Executive Committee—carried. . . . Charles Ray, then moved, as there was still one vacancy in the committee, that the name of Hester Lane be added—lost. Hester Lane is well known in this city has a woman of good character and senses, and has been a slave, but the 'principle' could not carry her color. —eh!" [6]
Thomas Van Rensselaer, an African American restaurateur, Vigilance committee activist and newspaper editor who was newly approved to the executive committee, rejected Ray's notion that racism was at fault and stated her nomination had been "withdrawn by us, rather reluctantly, by persuasion." [4] Rensselaer justified his action by arguing Lane supported Arthur Tappan's faction in a letter to The Emancipator:
"Hester Lane – an outcry has been made about this individual, being rejected as a member of the Executive Committee of the National Society. . . . Reasons for objecting, because I had a conversation with Mrs. Lane a few days before on the woman question, and found her opposed to us, and strongly in favor of the new organizationists [AFASS]. With those facts before my mind . . . I rose and said the committee was full, although it was found afterwards that another person could have been constitutionally added, so that all the blame, if blame there is, ought to be attached to brother Ray, for nominating a person who he knew, or ought to have known, was opposed to us." [6]
In her novels Vanguard and All Bound Up Together, historian and legal scholar Martha S. Jones discusses how Lane's case illustrates the debate among antislavery activists over women's rights, [4] "one of which women's equality lost out to the color line." [1]
False Accusations
editIn January of 1838, Lane was investigated by a "Committee of Investigation" led by Samuel Hardenburgh for accusations by Martha Johnson that she had kidnapped and sold slaves. Hardenburgh met at David Ruggles' home to investigate the accusations. Johnson reportedly had a conflict with Lane regarding property Johnson was renting from Lane. In February of 1839, at the Ashbury Church, the Investigative Committee announced their ruling in favor of Lane and exonerated her of the charges. [2]
After her acquittal, people pursued her under the impression she amassed her fortune from the illicit activities she was accused of and they argued over her innocence outside of the police station. Reportedly, the crowd wanted to lynch her but were discouraged from doing so by the arrival of an armed militia returned from their drills and dispersed shortly after. [2]
The committee published their report and announced Lane's innocence in The Colored American. [2]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Jones, Martha. Vanguard. ISBN 9781541618619.
- ^ a b c d e f Braithwaite, Jamila Shabazz (2014). "The Black Vigilance Movement in Nineteenth Century New York City". Dissertations and Theses.
- ^ a b c Abdy, E. S.. “Journal of a residence and tour in the United States of North America, from April, 1833, to October, 1834.” (2011).
- ^ a b c d e Jones, Martha S. (2007). All bound up together : the woman question in African American public culture, 1830-1900. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-8890-2. OCLC 647832684.
- ^ Peterson, Carla L., 1944- (2011). Black Gotham : a family history of African Americans in nineteenth-century New York City. New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-16255-4. OCLC 664840167.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Yee, Shirley J., 1959- (1992). Black women abolitionists : a study in activism, 1828-1860 (1st ed ed.). Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 0-87049-735-9. OCLC 24066962.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)