I Speak for my Slave Sister: The Life of Abby Kelley Foster (review)

Abstract

50QUAKER HISTORY them objects of silver. Joseph made thousands of such. To the modem eye one of the most engaging is a gorget, or small breastplate, of c. 1760, showing William Penn extending to an Indian a pipe of peace. The pipe has wings—presumably borrowed from the bird of peace. At their father's death in 1784 Joseph, Jr. and his brother Nathaniel continued the business, and it is they who created the neoclassical pieces which we associate with the Richardson name. A few years later Nathaniel left the trade, and Joseph, Jr. carried on alone. He was highly regarded by Washington, who appointed him assayer of the United States Mint in Philadelphia, where he spent most of his time for the last diirty years of his life. When he died in 1831 the Richardson dynasty, in respect to silver craft, came to an end. In addition to its other attractions Joseph Richardson is a scholarly work, well documented, and enriched with a variety of appendixes. It is the perfect gift for the connoisseur, and it will also be welcomed joyfully by many who are not specialists in the field, but who delight in the beauty of 18th century craftsmanship. Pendle HillEleanore Price Mather J Speak for my Slave Sister: The Life of Abby Kelley Foster. By Margaret Hope Bacon. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1974. 221 pages. $9.50. Of all the women who were galvanized into social action, and later into a concern for their own rights, by the issue of slavery Abby Kelley was perhaps the most prototypical radical. Outwardly unconcerned about public opinion, she persisted in doing "unwomanly" things and in challenging church, state and other abolitionists on behalf of her own uncompromising view of what abolitionism ought to be. Young, beautiful and charismatic at the outset, she inspired numbers of other women to join bodi causes, and attracted die bitterest of anti-abolition and anti-feminist attacks. Despite her stern exterior she was sensitive—in private—to criticism. Yet she went doggedly ahead, and by some stroke of luck met a man who shared her views and was capable of the ultimate radicalism: shared child care and domestic responsibilities as the other side of die coin of shared public life. Though neither the author nor the publisher is explicit about die audience for which this book is intended, it is part of a series, "Women of America," which aims to present the careers and achievements of a considerable variety of American women and is written in die style which publishers are wont to insist is necessary for high school students. The book is based on careful research and intimate acquaintance with the Foster-Kelley collection at the American Antiquarian Society. The care with which the work is done and flashes of insight throughout the book make one wish that die author had not held herself to the presumption that young people can take biography only in simple declarative sentences . This most interesting of abolitionist women deserves a full scale critical biography and diere is some evidence here that Mrs. Bacon could write it. Duke UniversityAnne Firor Scott ...