Harriet Bell Hayden: Difference between revisions
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Upon settling in Boston, Harriet and Lewis began putting significant financial resources into helping blacks escape the South and move North.<ref name=":0" /> At their home, Harriet opened a boardinghouse where she housed and protected escaped African Americans.<ref name=":1" /> The Hayden household "harbored 75 percent of all slaves passing through Boston", hundreds of fugitives. Following the passage of the [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850|Fugitive Slave Act in 1850]], she managed Boston's main Underground Railroad operations and was key to leading people through Boston's tunnel system. Harriet and her husband were praised by fellow abolitionists [[Frederick Douglass]] and [[William Lloyd Garrison]] for their efforts in aiding escaped blacks.<ref name=":0" /> It was also rumored that the Haydens kept barrels of gunpowder in their home and threatened to light it if anyone attempted to take an escaped slave from their house.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/search/?affiliate=nps&query=Abolitionist leaders and heroes of boston&sitelimit=nps.gov/boaf |title=Abolitionist Leaders and Heroes of Boston |website=National Park Service}}</ref> Among the most notable they assisted were [[William and Ellen Craft]], who became well-known abolitionists.<ref name=yee/> |
Upon settling in Boston, Harriet and Lewis began putting significant financial resources into helping blacks escape the South and move North.<ref name=":0" /> At their home, Harriet opened a boardinghouse where she housed and protected escaped African Americans.<ref name=":1" /> The Hayden household "harbored 75 percent of all slaves passing through Boston", hundreds of fugitives. Following the passage of the [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850|Fugitive Slave Act in 1850]], she managed Boston's main Underground Railroad operations and was key to leading people through Boston's tunnel system. Harriet and her husband were praised by fellow abolitionists [[Frederick Douglass]] and [[William Lloyd Garrison]] for their efforts in aiding escaped blacks.<ref name=":0" /> It was also rumored that the Haydens kept barrels of gunpowder in their home and threatened to light it if anyone attempted to take an escaped slave from their house.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/search/?affiliate=nps&query=Abolitionist leaders and heroes of boston&sitelimit=nps.gov/boaf |title=Abolitionist Leaders and Heroes of Boston |website=National Park Service}}</ref> Among the most notable they assisted were [[William and Ellen Craft]], who became well-known abolitionists.<ref name=yee/> |
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Between 1857 and 1859 [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] stayed with the Haydens and disclosed his plans to raid [[Harpers Ferry, West Virginia|Harper's Ferry]], [[Virginia]]. Harriet and her husband helped to raise money in support of Brown's raid.<ref name=":0" /> |
Between 1857 and 1859 [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] stayed with the Haydens and disclosed his plans to raid [[Harpers Ferry, West Virginia|Harper's Ferry]], [[Virginia]]. Harriet and her husband helped to raise money in support of Brown's raid.<ref name=":0" /> Her obituary in ''[[Women's Journal]]'', a Boston women's rights weekly, said "no woman perhaps knew more than she of the inside history of the Harper's Ferry tragedy".<ref>{{cite newspaper | access-date = February 22, 2024 |page=413| date = December 30, 1893 | newspaper = Women's Journal | title = In Memoriam | url = https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:49673168$421i }}</ref> |
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Lewis Hayden died in 1889. Harriet Hayden died of pneumonia in her Boston home at the age of 74 in 1893.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Mrs. Lewis Hayden |date=December 30, 1893 |newspaper=The Cleveland Gazette}}</ref> She is buried in [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Everett, Massachusetts)|Woodlawn Cemetery]] in [[Everett]], Massachusetts.<ref name=npsbio/> |
Lewis Hayden died in 1889. Harriet Hayden died of pneumonia in her Boston home at the age of 74 in 1893.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Mrs. Lewis Hayden |date=December 30, 1893 |newspaper=The Cleveland Gazette}}</ref> She is buried in [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Everett, Massachusetts)|Woodlawn Cemetery]] in [[Everett]], Massachusetts.<ref name=npsbio/> |
Revision as of 19:10, 21 February 2024
Harriet Bell Hayden (1816-1893) was an African-American antislavery activist in Boston, Massachusetts. She and her husband, Louis Hayden, were the primary operators of the Underground Railroad in Boston and also aided the John Brown slave revolt conspiracy.
Early life
Harriet Bell was born in Kentucky in 1816. She had a son named Joseph before marrying Lewis Hayden, whose wife and son had been sold away to another slaveholder.[a] On September 28, 1844, after careful planning, the Haydens and Joseph, whom Lewis had adopted, escaped their Kentucky plantation,[2] travelling via Ohio and Michigan to Canada.[3] Central to their escape was the assistance of Reverend Calvin Fairbank, who was arrested and given a 15-year sentence for aiding in their escape.[4] By 1846, the Haydens had permanently relocated with Joseph and their daughter Elizabeth, born in 1845,[5] to the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts,[2] where Lewis ran a clothing store.[3]
Underground Railroad activism
Upon settling in Boston, Harriet and Lewis began putting significant financial resources into helping blacks escape the South and move North.[2] At their home, Harriet opened a boardinghouse where she housed and protected escaped African Americans.[4] The Hayden household "harbored 75 percent of all slaves passing through Boston", hundreds of fugitives. Following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, she managed Boston's main Underground Railroad operations and was key to leading people through Boston's tunnel system. Harriet and her husband were praised by fellow abolitionists Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison for their efforts in aiding escaped blacks.[2] It was also rumored that the Haydens kept barrels of gunpowder in their home and threatened to light it if anyone attempted to take an escaped slave from their house.[6] Among the most notable they assisted were William and Ellen Craft, who became well-known abolitionists.[3]
Between 1857 and 1859 John Brown stayed with the Haydens and disclosed his plans to raid Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Harriet and her husband helped to raise money in support of Brown's raid.[2] Her obituary in Women's Journal, a Boston women's rights weekly, said "no woman perhaps knew more than she of the inside history of the Harper's Ferry tragedy".[7]
Lewis Hayden died in 1889. Harriet Hayden died of pneumonia in her Boston home at the age of 74 in 1893.[8] She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, Massachusetts.[5]
Legacy
Upon her death, the entirety of the Haydens' estate, which amounted to around $5,000, was donated to endow a scholarship at Harvard University. The scholarship was to be used to provide financial assistance to black medical students at the Harvard University Medical School. The Haydens were likely inspired by their many abolitionist connections at Harvard, particularly Henry Bowditch, an abolitionist and professor of medicine there. The scholarship is still awarded today.[1]
Her home at 66 Philips Street is a national historic site and a stopping point along the Black Heritage Trail, a route that goes through the Beacon Hill neighborhood and has many stops at notable African American Heritage sites. Her home, however, is still occupied as a private residence and is not open to the public.[9]
An exhibition at the Boston Athenæum in the spring of 2024 uses two photograph albums that belonged to Harriet to document her social relationships and the networks of her day.[10]
See also
Notes
- ^ Lewis' wife Esther Harvey and their son had been sold to US Senator Henry Clay, who in turn sold them.[1]
References
- ^ a b Powell, Alvin (February 23, 2015). "Legacy of Resolve". The Harvard Gazette.
- ^ a b c d e Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2008). The Underground Railroad An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations. Armonk, New York: M.E Sharpe, Inc. pp. 255–257. ISBN 978-0-7656-8093-8.
- ^ a b c Yee, Shirley (February 17, 2007). "Harriet Hayden". Black Past. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
- ^ a b Greenidge, Kerri (2006). Boston's Abolitionists. Massachusetts: Commonwealth Editions. pp. 31–51]. ISBN 978-1-933212-19-7.
- ^ a b "Harriet Hayden". National Park Service. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
- ^ "Abolitionist Leaders and Heroes of Boston". National Park Service.
- ^ "In Memoriam". Women's Journal. December 30, 1893. p. 413. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- ^ "Mrs. Lewis Hayden". The Cleveland Gazette. December 30, 1893.
- ^ "Lewis and Harriet Hayden House". National Park Service.
- ^ "Framing Freedom: The Harriet Hayden Albums". Boston Athenaeum. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
External links
- Lewis and Harriet Hayden House, the National Park Service