Sarah and Angelina Grimke were known as the Grimke Sisters. Sarah was the older sister, born in 1792 while Angelina was born in 1805. Both were from South Carolina (Birney). The Grimke Sisters were two of the fourteen children of John Grimke who was a judge and planter in South Carolina and eventually served as chief judge of the South Carolina Supreme Court. Sarah was thirteen years older than Angelina and while the two were close their whole lives, the relationship was part sister and part mother-daughter (Birney). Although her father owned slaves and was a proponent women staying in a subservient position to men, the Grimke Sisters did not inherit his beliefs. Sarah even tried to run away once as a child after being disturbed by seeing the beating of a slave that her father…show more content… Angelina wrote a letter the same year that was published in the newspaper, The Liberator (Japp, 335). This publication resulted in the sisters being forced to choose between their Quaker religious community or their work as abolitionists and their activism won (Lerner). The sisters went on to publish multiple works promoting the rights of both African Americans and women. The sisters were criticized in their lifetimes for stepping out of a woman’s place by speaking out on the issues that were so important to them. The Grimke Sisters are noted for being the first female public speakers, which was so controversial in their time that they began by speaking in meetings referred to as “parlor meetings” where only other women were present (Lerner). This format gave the sisters a platform to discuss their positions, however, it was slow to enact actual change since women had few rights and were not permitted to vote. Their public speaking eventually grew to include church tours and their publication defended their abilities to speak publically both about abolition and women’s rights
