"Maria W. Stewart"(Maria Miller) (1803-December 17,1879)

Was an African American public speaker,abolitionist,and feminist.She was born in Hartford Connecticut.At the the age of five she became and orphan and was sent to live with a minister and his family.Until she was fifteen,Maria was a servant in the home where she resided and was deprived of an education.When Maria turned twenty,her life took a turn for the better.Maria began to attend Sabbath School,where she learned new and exciting things.During her early adulthood,while attending school,Maria worked as a domestic servant for a living.On August 10,1826,Maria Miller and James Stewart exchanged vows before the pastor of the African Meeting House (Rev Paul Thomas) in Boston Massachusetts.Their marriage only lasted three years;he died in 1829.After her husband's death,Maria started to give speeches in order to support herself.the inheritance left to her by her husband was taken away by white bussinessman.She was the first black woman to lecture about women's rights-particularly the rights of black women-relgion,and social justice among black people.She was influenced by David Walker ,who wrote a very controversial piece on race relations called David Walker's Appeal (1829).In 1830,David was found dead outside of his shop,just one year after the death of Maria husband.In 1831,before embarking on her public speaking career she published a small pamphlet entitled Religion and the pure principles of Mortality,the Sure Foundation on Which We Build.In 1832, Maria published a collection of religious mediations from the pen of Mrs.Maria Stewart.She wrote and delivered four speeches between 1832 and 1833.While her speeches were not well-received,William Llyod Garrison,a dear friend and the central figure of the anti-slavery movement,published all four of them in his newspaper The Liberator.Maria public speaking career lasted three years.She delivered her farewell addresses on September 21,1833,in the school room at African Meeting House,known then as the Belknap Street Church,and part of The Black Hertiage Trail.When she left Boston,she moved to New York,where she published her collected works in 1835.She taught school and participated in the abolitionist movement,as well as literary organizations.She moved from New York to Baltimore and then to Washington D.C.,where she also taught school.While in Washington D.C.,she became Matron of Freedom's Hospital,known as Howard University.She continued to reside in Washington,D.C. until her death.