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September 1832

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Achievement · politics
Maria Stewart Becomes First American Woman to Lecture Publicly to Mixed Audiences

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.

Events

  1. September 21, 1832
    Maria Stewart Becomes First American Woman to Lecture Publicly to Mixed Audiences

    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.

  2. September 21, 1832
    Maria Stewart Becomes First American-Born Woman to Lecture Publicly

    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?'

  3. September 21, 1832
    Maria Stewart speaks

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