In a speech she delivered (without notes) in Liverpool in 1859, [Remond] stated:
“I appeal on behalf of four millions of men, women, and children who are chattels in the Southern States of America, Not because they are identical with my race and color, though I am proud of that identity, but because they are men and women. The sum of sixteen hundred millions of dollars is invested in their bones, sinews, and flesh — is this not sufficient reason why all the friends of humanity should not endeavor with all their might and power, to overturn the vile systems of slavery.”
The fight to end slavery is really what propelled women on to the public stage as speakers and lecturers. Maria Stewart of Boston, an African American, is considered the first woman public speaker in America. Women brought a tone of moral authority to the abolitionist cause as mothers and daughters. Both Maria and Sarah, as African Americans, added an even more compelling dimension to the argument. Sarah was known as a “clear and forceful speaker [who] lectured to enthusiastic crowds in cities throughout England, Scotland and Ireland, and raised large sums of money for the anti-slavery cause.”
William Lloyd Garrison, the great abolitionist, praised Sarah’s “calm, dignified manner, her winning personal appearance, and her earnest appeals to the conscience and heart.”
While living in England, Sarah visited Italy on several occasions and eventually enrolled in Santa Maria Nuova Hospital as a medical student. After graduating, she practiced medicine in Florence for twenty years. She also married Lazzaro Pintor of Sardinia in 1877 at the age of fifty-three.
Text from HistorySmiths: Salem Women’s History and Business Community