By John Koser

Maria W. Stewart (born Maria Miller) was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Her parents’ first names and occupations are not known, and 1803 is the best guess of her birth year. Maria was orphaned by age five and became an indentured servant, bound to serve a clergyman until she was fifteen. When Maria turned 20 her life to a turn for the better and she began to attend Sabbath schools and read widely in the clergyman’s library, educating herself without formal education. She took a job as a domesticated servant to help put herself through school.

Somewhere along the road, Miller met James Stewart, a successful ship’s outfitter, and fell in the love. On August 10, 1826, the two exchanged vows before the pastor of the African Meeting House (Rev. Thomas Paul) in Boston, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, their marriage only lasted three years when James died in 1829 (the cause of his death his unknown). After her husband’s death, Stewart started to give speeches in order to support herself as the inheritance left by her husband was taken away by white businessmen.

Stewart’s writing and speeches were said to be influenced by militant abolitionist David Walker. Stewart was also the very first African-American woman to lecture about women’s rights, asking “How long shall the fair daughters of Africa be compelled to bury their minds and talents beneath a load of iron pots and kettles?” With Walker’s powerful influence, Stewart became a well known African-American speaker and helped to raise the specter of armed rebellion by African-Americans.

Before she became a speaker though, Stewart also wrote a few things as well. She published a small pamphlet entitled Religion and the pure principles of Mortality, the Sure Foundation on which We Build. Stewart would also go on to publish a collection of religious mediations called The Meditation from the pen of Mrs. Maria Stewart. Stewart’s most famous speech would come from Religion and the pure principles of Morality The sure Foundation on which We Must Build. In the speech, she asks God to grant patience, peace, courage and strength.

Stewart’s public speaking career would go on to last only three years. She delivered her farewell addresses on September 21, 1833, in the school room of the African Meeting House, known then as the Belknap Street Church, and part of The Black Heritage 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 organization.

Stewart then moved from New York to Washington, D.C. during the Civil War. Stewart would also teach school there as well. 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 in 1879.

Annotated Bibliography

Grasso, Linda M. The Artistry of Anger: Black and White Women’s Literature in America, 1820-1860. University of North Carolina Press, 2002. Print.  This text has only brief excepts from Stewart’s writings and speeches, but they are heavily discussed. Grasso especially focuses on how Stewart was essentially a trendsetter, being the first African-American woman to speak on women’s rights. She claims that Stewart helped to” pave the road” for future woman rights activists.

Lewis, Jone J. “Maria W. Stewart: Abolitionist, Public Speaker, Writer.” Women’s History. About.com, n.d. Web. 4 Mar 2011. <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/slaveryto1863/a/Maria-W-Stewart_2.htm&gt;. This website is just a solid source for information about Stewart’s life. It mentions a few of her more famous speeches but never goes very in depth with them. It was one of my primary sources for information about how Stewart’s life went from a slave to giving speeches on women’s rights.

Marilyn Richardson, Maria. W. Stewart. Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Oxford University Press, 1997. Print. There’s not really much to discuss for this source. It contains a few of Stewart’s work, particularly her more famous speeches, and has a short and simplified biography. It is very similar to something you would find in a school text book covering Stewart. There’s enough there to give you an idea but not enough to give you the full picture.

Marilyn Richardson, Maria. W. Stewart. Maria W. Stewart, America’s First Black Woman Political Writer: Essays and Speeches. Indiana University Press, 1987. Print. This seems to be the more in depth version of the previous annotation. It contains all of Stewart’s work, both speeches and writings. It also has a more in depth biography. This book also features a few essays written on Stewart and her works from a variety of other writers.

Stewart, Maria W., Jarena Lee, Julia A.J. Foote, Virginia W. Broughton, and S.E. Houchins. Spiritual Narratives (The Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers). Oxford University Press, 1988. Print. This particular book is a massive collection of African-American writers and it features Stewart as well. While her speeches about women’s rights and other things are removed or downplayed, the book highlights her more spiritual writings and speeches. Religion and the pure principles of Morality The sure Foundation on which We Must Build is a huge part of Stewart’s section.

Websites

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/slaveryto1863/a/Maria-W-Stewart.htm

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Maria_W._Stewart.aspx

http://www.blackpast.org/?q=1832-maria-w-stewart-why-sit-ye-here-and-die

http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/ewb_24/ewb_24_00184.html

http://www.aframnews.com/websitepublisher/articles/maria-w-stewart.html