William Wells Brown, Social Reformer

Abstract

For while William Wells Brown was known in New England as a great lecturer, as Boston maiden of some eighty summers called him in conversation I recently had with her. Outside of New England, where he is remembered at all, he is known as America's first Negro man of letters. As far as anyone yet knows, he was first American Negro to publish book of travels, novel, and drama. Also-if there is any value in recording firsts -he was probably America's first Negro foreign newspaper correspondent. Yet at no time in his life did Brown devote himself exclusively to writing as profession. From 1847, when he published his first book, until 1880, when he published his last one, he was busy reading and writing; but throughout his life as free man he was zealous social reformer, in an age of great reformers. Before Civil War Brown was primarily interested in abolition of American slavery. After Civil War his chief concern was, in phrase he loved to use, the religious, moral, and social elevation of his race. With most of his fellow-abolitionists, however, he was actively interested at one time or another in all of principal reform movements of his age. Before he became an anti-slavery leader and long after Civil War had ended, he was an ardent supporter of temperance movement, as were Henry Highland Garnet and William Still. With Lucy Stone, Angelina Grimke Weld, Abby Kelley Foster, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and others, he shared views in favor of woman suffrage, and he was also interested in pacifism, prison reform, and anti-tobacconism.