Source book in bioethics Book

During the days of my undergraduate thesis and culminating research, I found this book to be an extremely valuable source of information about the achievements and activism that was common amongst women of African descent living in one of the most contentious and violent time periods in American history.

Mossell, born and raised in Philadelphia, PA in the mid to late 19th century, was a staunch advocate of African American women's voices in politics and education. In addition, she promoted and raised crucial funding for organizations that supported the African American community's advancement towards a better quality of life as citizens of this nation. Her book is an important collection of essays and poems that reminds readers how African American women were active agents in challenging their oppression and marginalized status through intellectual development, rigorous political organizing, writing, publishing and co-founding and sustaining valuable organizations.

I appreciated Mossell's quote in the beginning of this text; it highlights her book's key purpose to the readers:

"The chief significance of this work is that it preserves for all time a chapter of humanity."


For those interested in 19th century African Americana, literature and the history of women's activism, I would definitely recommend this book.