Thankful Southwick

Death and legacy Thankful died in her sleep at age 75 on April 29, 1867, in Grantville (current day Wellesley), Massachusetts. Thankful and her husband were beloved and fondly remembered by their abolitionist and women's rights peers. In his Speech Before the International Council of Women, in Washington, D.C., in April 1888, Frederick Douglass remembered Thankful and Joseph as "two of the noblest people I ever knew."

Thankful, her husband, and their three daughters are buried near one another in Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts.

Involvement in the abolitionist movement

Introduction to the Boston abolitionist movement While the Southwicks did not know any families in Boston at the time of their move, the reputations of both Thankful and Joseph Southwick as devoted abolitionists preceded them. They quickly became acquainted with notable Boston abolitionist families and became heavily involved in the antislavery movement in the city. Thankful also attended state legislature sessions, court hearings, and political meetings with other members of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, including the Chapmans and her daughters. Thankful and other female abolitionists attended political meetings in Boston freely. and Thankful and her daughter became prominent and powerful participants in the Boston abolition movement. and the Abolition Riot of 1836.

1835 Boston Mob In October 1835, George Thompson was invited to speak at the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society's meeting, which was to be held in the publishing office of The Liberator. Turner alleged that the two women were fugitive slaves belonging to John B. Morris of Baltimore. However, the two women had legal papers attesting to their freedom. The Grimkés' public speeches were extremely controversial and laid the foundations for the eventual schism in the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. In response to the Grimkés' lectures, notable local ministers began to voice their opposition to women playing an active role in organized abolition. Thankful would go on to serve as President of the new Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1840, 1841, 1842, and 1844. The Anti-Slavery Fairs would become the main focus of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society until 1858. Thankful and other members would continue to petition, attend political meetings, and lecture as "women of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society."

Underground Railroad Thankful and Joseph Southwick's house was known for being a meeting place and caravansary for fellow abolitionists and other members of the anti-slavery movement. Elizabeth Cady Stanton remarked that Thankful's home "was always a harbor of rest for the weary, where the anti-slavery hosts were wont to congregate, and where one was always sure to meet someone worth knowing. Their hospitality was generous to an extreme, and so boundless that they were, at last, fairly eaten out of house and home."

Non-resistance movement In 1838, William Lloyd Garrison established the New England Non-Resistance Society. Previously, Garrison was a member of the American Peace Society. He established the New England Non-Resistance Society in opposition to the American Peace Society's approval of defensive warfare. The New England Non-Resistance Society also broke with the American Peace Society by allowing both men and women to become members and officials. Thankful Southwick joined the society with Anne W. Weston and Maria Weston Chapman of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. Thankful was later elected to the executive committee. the first national women's rights convention that called for "equality before the law without distinction of sex or color."