The Voice Forgotten

Anna Dickinson

America’s Joan of Arc

1842-1932

 

 Library of Congress Archive Photo

Anna Elizabeth Dickson is one of the strongest but least remembered forces of the abolition of slavery as well as the women's rights movement during the 18th Century, her desires at a young age, her passion towards abolishing slavery, and her public speaking redefined the voice of women in a nation of men.

On October 28, 1842 an abolitionist hero was born. Anna Elizabeth Dickinson was one of kind.  Born to two Quaker parents, Anna was the youngest of five children. Anna's father was an anti slavery abolitionist. At the age of 2, her father passed away of a heart condition after giving a passionate speech for anti-slavery. This left Anna and her family in poverty.

Anna began her public school education and was later sent to a boarding school. At this boarding school Anna was constantly striving for more. Anna would take on part time jobs in order to afford a book from the local store, when she was finished reading it, she would then sell it to a used bookstore and buy another. “Newspapers, speeches, tracts, history, biography, poetry novels, and fairy tales were all alike and read and relished” (biography). This thinking is just the beginning of what Anna Dickinson had in store for the future and her innovative ideas on anti-slavery and solutions that she would soon proclaim to hundreds of people.

At the age of 14, Anna wrote her first article on Anti-Slavery that was published in The Liberator newspaper. The Liberator was a famous anti-slavery newspaper published by famed abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. Anna was often recognized for the crowds that would attend her speeches and lectures, the number of people she could recruit to the cause, and the complete eloquence and beauty of her speeches and voice.

Anna’s passion is evident in her actions. As Anna’s career began to grow, people began to buy tickets for seats to hear her speak. Anna was again recognized in the Liberator for donating all her earnings of ten hundred and thirty dollars to the National Freedman's Relief Society.

  

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Donating money was not enough. In the future, after many of Anna’s other accomplishments, her carreer on the podium had fallen, but her passion had not. She began writing plays and books. "What Answer?" was Anna’s first book. This was the first book of its kind that revolved around an interracial couple.  Anna’s passion never died.

Her first public speech was in 1860 on “Woman’s Rights and Wrongs”. The audience was astonished at her eloquence and from that day forth her name was known through many cities and towns. She traveled to various places speaking, inspiring, and converting many to the cause of anti-slavery. Many talk about Anna’s ability to hold the attention and awe of previously impatient audiences. "She managed to enchain the audience a little longer than any person who has ever held forth in that hall." -Norristown Herald

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Anna Elizabeth Dickinson’s lifetime achievement was before Congress and the President of the United States on January 16, 1864. On this day, Anna became the first woman to ever give a speech on the floor of Congress to the President. Anna was only 21 years old.

For such a well-spoken woman and one that holds a Congressional first, she is not mentioned in many history books. Anna was unable to keep the public on her side throughout her career. Being and abolitionist was not easy, it often ended with half for and half against your cause, leaving your future with many people who hate you. Unfortunately, when the public lost interest in her she became lost in herself and history. 

Anna is an awe-inspiring woman. She was a woman that in a time of gender and racial inequality, she stepped forward and made a difference. Although Anna's career died off, she should be recognized in her accomplishments and they should not be disregarded. Anna is a voice lost in history, which needs to be heard.

Work cited: http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/anna-dickinson/ 

Attitudes and Opinions Make People

Many view Alexander Graham Bell as a communications revolutionary who invented the telephone and created a way for people to communicate to each other over distances by hearing voices and not sending letters. He was revolutionary and he should be praised for his invention. However, Alexander Graham Bell did not deserve praise for his attitude towards the deaf community and woman.


He was born to a deaf mother and had a deaf wife. Because of this he wanted to invent a device that could cure deafness. The telephone was what he invented. Though it did not cure deafness, the process of inventing it showed off who he really was. For my blog today I am presenting a letter that Alexander Graham Bell sent to his wife about his view on womens rights.

Personal Letter from Alexander Grahm Bell to his future wife Mabel Hubbard.
October 5th 1875: The Library of Congress Letter from Bell to Hubbard

In order to understand the real motives of Alexander Grahm Bell, I feel as if you must know his personality. I chose a personal letter to his future fiance as an example of his harsh opinions,

In this period of time, woman were fighting harder than ever for equality between men and women. Some men refused and some agreed with them.

In this letter you see the attitude of many men expressed againt womans rights. That women were being ungrateful and not doing thier part. Alexander expresses his opinion  woman were not of capable knowledge like men and were extremley ungrateful for not excepting all that they had been given.

Alexander Grahm Bell sent this letter to his future wife (they were just sweethearts at the time of this note). A little bit into the letter, you see Alexander Grahm Bell bash womans rights saying that the thought of such is absolutley ridiculous. At the end of the letter he seems to "give in". The real question is if this is a sarcastic letter poking fun at womans right or was it a way of flirtation?

Alexander Graham Bell In History

Alexander Graham Bell's First Sketches of Telephone.

While studying the human ear, Bell began sketching ideas to cure deafness. Here pictured is the first recorded sketching of what will later develop into the telephone. Bell sketched these ideas in 1876.

Growing up, Bell's mother was deaf. Bell then ended up falling in love with a deaf woman whom he later married. Seeing the effects of deafness his entire life, Bell took it upon himself to rid the world of deafness.In this sketch, though rough, Bell protrays a keen dipiction of what he wants his solution to be. In the sketch there are notes at the top leading into the first sketch. The first sketch drawn has 2 open cylinders attached to a cord leading into what appears to be a small electrical box. The next sketch shows one man speaking into the open cylinder which is connected by a cord to the other cylinder, where the smaller end of the cylinder is in the other mans ear. In between the two cylinders there is a squiggly sketch possibly indicating the vibration pattern of sounds between the voice of one man and the ear of the other. The third sketch shows a man speaking freely into a cylinder with no one at the end, possibly showing success and funtionality of the device.


An interesting part of the second sketch is the placement of the ear on the recieving end. It appears to literally be placed inside the ear to pick up on the vibrations traveling across the cord.

Above and below the drawing, you see Grahams original writings stating that these are as far back as he can remember his first drawings of the telephone. The date of the original drawing is unsure, so they have placed it

I believe that the true motive of Alexander Graham Bell is not the original motive that America today knows. Through this picture and further sources, I hope to show another side of Alexander Graham Bell and open a new avenue of understanding US Deaf History.

August 21st, 1876.