Parker Pillsbury: Radical Abolitionist, Male Feminist

Stacey M. Robertson

Published by Cornell University Press 2007

Parker Pillsbury

Radical Abolitionist, Male Feminist

Stacey M. Robertson

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501729720

Overview
Contents

About this book

Parker Pillsbury—one of the most important and least examined antislavery activists of the nineteenth century—was a man of intense contradictions. Was he a disruptive eccentric who lashed out at authority (proclaiming Lincoln the worst president in...

Author / Editor information

Stacey M. Robertson is Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY Geneseo.

Reviews

James Brewer Stewart, James Wallace Professor of History, Macalester College:

This fine rendering of Parker Pillsbury's life deserves a wide reading, not only for its compelling account of abolitionism as both a grass roots and an international movement but also for the valuable connections it illuminates between struggles for race and for gender equality.

This book... is well written, informative, often enjoyable... With respect to grassroots abolitionism, Pillsbury's name pops up in virtually every book on the antislavery movement... More interesting are the chapters dealing with Pillsbury's commitment to women's rights activism. At this point in the narrative, Robertson is at her best.

This account of Pillsbury's long and active life as a late nineteenth-century radical provides a retrospective on many concerns that remain with us today.

In her thoroughly researched and well-written biography of Parker Pillsbury, Stacey M. Robertson explores the personality and career of a nineteenth-century perfectionist whom scholars have long considered a crank on the fringe of the abolitionist movement.... She argues persuasively that he was also a sensitive visionary and a committed idealist who sincerely advocated social justice, often at great personal expense.... This study is a welcome addition to the literature on nineteenth-century perfectionism. It sheds valuable light on the complex relationships forged within the radical wing of the abolitionist movement.

Drawing on a wide range of documentary sources, Robertson has written the first book-length study of abolitionist field lecturer Parker Pillsbury.... The biography is principally suited to the scholarly researcher; academic libraries serving those interested in 19th-century reform movements should obtain this work. Upper level undergraduates and above.

Stacey M. Robertson... introduces us to Parker Pillsbury, one of the most radical and irascible of nineteenth-century social reformers, in this first book-length study of his long career... Well-researched and well-written.

Robertson's relatively brief book is compelling evidence that 'history,' as she asserts, 'is the story of individual lives.' Clearly, unique individuals such as Parker Pillsbury help illuminate history.

Parker Pillsbury... is relatively unknown today... Stacey M. Robertson's well-written and scrupulously-documented biography is the first full-scale treatment of this important figure and is a welcome contribution to antislavery scholarship... Professional historians, antislavery enthusiasts, and students alike will enjoy this very readable study of Parker Pillsbury and his relationship to radical reform in the nineteenth century.

In the first book-length biography of this fascinating figure, Stacey M. Robertson... has told his story well. Thoroughly researched and clearly written, Robertson's study effectively links Pillsbury's twin concerns for black and women's rights in the United States and Britain.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. The Roots of Radicalism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
2. Marriage, Family, and the Business of Reform Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
3. Masculinity and Women's Rights Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
4. Abolitionism Organized or Unorganized? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
5. Grassroots Abolition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
6. An American Abolitionist Abroad Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
7. Perfectionism and the Civil War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
8. Imperfect Reconstruction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	134
9. The Postbellum Quest for the Millennium Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	157
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 256
Illustrations
- Other: 11 halftones
Keywords: U.S. History; Biography & Autobiography

eBook

Published: September 5, 2018
ISBN: 9781501729720