The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society and the Civil War
Civil War historians, particularly those interested in women’s experiences, stand to learn a great deal by taking a new look at old sources. Among these are the minutes of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (PFASS), housed at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. PFASS’s minutes document the society’s monthly meetings and provide a rather comprehensive list of the work the women did. The minute books record what the group accomplished between meetings, organizational correspondence, and the activities of individual members. Because the group did not disband until 1870, the minutes hold potential for scholars seeking to understand the still unexplored experiences of women of color during the Civil War and Reconstruction and how this novel group of women sought to shape the political events of the day.