From Abolition to Suffrage: The Activism of Harriet Hayden
- Media Manager
- Aug 1
- 3 min read
Join our blog writer, Memoria, in exploring the intertwined histories of abolition and women's suffrage through the life and legacy of Harriet Hayden.
August 18th marks the 106th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. Many of the women, both Black and white, who belonged to the suffrage movement were veterans of the fight to abolish slavery, including Julia Ward Howe. Howe and her husband—both fervent abolitionists—lived at 13 Chestnut Street in Beacon Hill between 1863 and 1866. This part of Boston hummed with activity from the Underground Railroad, the network of people who were able and willing to help people fleeing enslavement by providing shelter, money, and other resources. While the Howes did not take people into their own home, many of their neighbors did, especially Harriet and Lewis Hayden.
Harriet Hayden was born into slavery in 1816 in Kentucky. Her early life is not well documented, but by 1846 she had met and married Lewis Hayden, escaped from enslavement, and settled in Boston at 66 Phillips Street. The Haydens were known for sheltering fellow freedom seekers such as Ellen and William Craft. In addition to physical shelter, the Haydens provided the Crafts with emotional support—they hosted Ellen and William’s wedding on November 7, 1850. According to Harriet Hayden’s obituary in The Woman’s Journal, she was well known for her effect on the people around her: “her bright, cheerful spirit and quaint, original utterances were an unfailing source of comfort and cheer in the darkest hours of the struggle. No history of that time will be complete without the name of Harriet Hayden and a record of the vigorous part she played.”
The fact that Harriet Hayden’s obituary appeared in The Woman’s Journal indicates that abolition was not the only social change she worked to bring about. Bostonians Lucy Stone and her husband Dr. Henry Blackwell had founded the newspaper in 1850 to be a voice for the suffrage movement. Harriet and Lewis Hayden belonged to that movement, forming the West End Woman Suffrage League in 1887 with community members and neighbors such as Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin and Arianna Sparrow. The League worked with other organizations to raise money for the publication of pro-suffrage material, and host pageants and bazaars to bring attention to the suffrage movement.
Historians often examine events through specific lenses, relegating some moments to women’s history, others to Black history, and so on. This tendency certainly makes it easier to learn about what happened in the past, but it obscures the fact that people have always held multiple identities. Harriet Hayden’s work with the West End Woman Suffrage League is an important piece of women’s history, just as much as her work with the Crafts and the Underground Railroad is an important piece of Black history. The motto of the West End Woman Suffrage League was “All rights for all”; this is a lofty goal for activists and a reminder for historians that since the past is a massive web of interconnected actions and events, we should use as many lenses as possible to understand those narratives.
SOURCES:
• Ilyon Woo, Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom
• “The Woman’s Journal”, Saturday, December 30, 1893
• “The West End Woman Suffrage League” article by The West End Museum
• National Park Service articles:
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