1832

Maria W. Stewart, a Black Bostonian, delivered a lecture at Franklin Hall before a mixed-gender, mixed-race audience, becoming the first American-born woman to speak publicly on political topics to an audience of both men and women. Her four Boston lectures (1832–33) addressed slavery, women's rights, and Black self-improvement with fierce religious conviction.

Maria W. Stewart, a free Black woman in Boston, delivered a lecture at Franklin Hall — the first American-born woman of any race to speak to a mixed-gender public audience. Her 1832-33 speeches at the African-American Female Intelligence Society and Masonic Hall demanded Black education and women's equality: 'How long shall the fair daughters of Africa be compelled to bury their minds and talents beneath a load of iron pots and kettles?'

The New England Anti-Slavery Society was founded in Boston on January 6, 1832 with twelve founding members — including several Black Bostonians. The society advocated immediate emancipation, no compensation to slaveholders, and full Black citizenship. It published The Liberator, organized lectures, and coordinated with the broader abolitionist movement. Its model of biracial organizing, with Black members holding leadership roles, was adopted by the American Anti-Slavery Society (1833).

Maria Stewart becomes one of the first American women to lecture publicly on politics, calling Black Americans to education and resistance.