Eliza Ann Gardner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eliza Ann Gardner
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| Born | May 28, 1831 New York City, U.S.
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| Died | January 4, 1922 (aged 90) Boston, U.S.
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Eliza Ann Gardner (May 28, 1831 – January 4, 1922) was an important African-American leader. She fought against slavery and worked for women's rights. She was also a strong religious leader from Boston, Massachusetts. Eliza helped start a missionary society for her church. She also worked hard to make sure women had equal rights within the church. She was a founder of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs. This group helped many Black women across the country.
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Eliza Ann Gardner's Early Life
Eliza Ann Gardner was born in New York City on May 28, 1831. Her parents were James and Eliza Gardner. When she was a child, her family moved to Boston. Her father was a successful ship contractor there.
Growing Up in Boston
The family lived in the West End neighborhood. This area was a key place for Boston's African-American community. It was also a center for the abolitionist movement. Abolitionists were people who wanted to end slavery.
Eliza went to the only public school for Black children in Boston. Her teachers were also abolitionists. Her parents were very active in politics. Their home was even a stop on the Underground Railroad. This was a secret network that helped enslaved people escape to freedom. Eliza was also related to W. E. B. Du Bois, a famous civil rights leader.
Eliza was a very smart student. She won several scholarships for her studies. However, there were not many chances for Black women to have professional careers. So, she trained to become a dressmaker.
Eliza Ann Gardner's Career and Activism
As a young woman, Eliza became very active in her church. She also joined the anti-slavery movement. She earned a living as a dressmaker. Later, she managed a boarding house.
Fighting for Freedom
As an activist, Eliza worked with many famous abolitionist leaders. These included Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Wendell Phillips. She taught Sunday school for the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ). She eventually became Boston's Sunday school superintendent.
In 1876, she started the Zion Missionary Society in New England. This group raised money to send missionaries to Africa. Eliza is known as the "mother" of this organization. It later became known nationally as the Ladies' Home and Foreign Missionary Society.
A Voice for Women
Eliza's efforts to raise money faced challenges in 1884. Some men in the AMEZ Church did not want a women's society. At a big church meeting, Eliza bravely spoke up for women's roles in the church. She said:
I come from Old Massachusetts, where we have declared that all, not only men, but women, too, are created free and equal....If you commence to talk about the superiority of men, if you persist in telling us that after the fall of man we were put under your feet and that we are intended to be subject to your will, we cannot help you in New England one bit.
Eliza was very important in convincing the church to allow women to become ministers. She urged them to "strengthen [women's] efforts and make us a power."
Leading the Way
In 1895, Eliza served as the chaplain for the First National Conference of the Colored Women of America. This was very rare for a woman at that time. She was also a founding member of the Woman's Era Club of Boston. This was the city's first club for Black women.
She helped create the National Association of Colored Women. She was an honored guest at their big meeting in New York in 1908. Along with other Black Bostonians, she fought against segregated schools. She also helped people who had escaped slavery. She strongly supported ending slavery completely.
Eliza Ann Gardner never married and did not have children. She passed away in Boston in 1922. The Gardner Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church in Springfield, Massachusetts is named in her honor.
