Robert Purvis

Early Life

• My father was a rich white abolitionist married to a free slave
• My father made a school for colored kids and since I was mixed he went there
• My dream to be an abolitionist came from William Lloyd Garrison
• Mr. Garrison came to my house to talk to my father to discus about the abolitionist newspaper he was making
• That got me interested in be an abolitionist

ONCE AN ABLOITIONIST

• I followed around William Lloyd Garrison and I helped him start a society or two
• I started the Antislavery Society of Philadelphia (President 1840 - 1845)
• I was the Vice President of the American Antislavery Society
• I helped house and free nearly 11,000 slaves during my life
• Also I started the Philadelphia Library Company of Colored Persons

WHY WAS I AGAINST SLAVERY

• My mom was freed black woman, so I got treated as a black person
• Although my skin was so light I could pass for a white person
• All my life I went to a colored school
• William Lloyd Garrison was a huge influence on me

SOCIETIES I WAS IN

• American Antislavery Society (Vice President)
• Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society (President, 1840-45 and in 1852-1857)
• Woman's Suffrage Society (Vice President)

Untitled Slide

Bibliography

• "Robert Purvis." Robert Purvis. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. ..
• "Robert Purvis." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. .. (And picture too)
• "Biographical Profiles - The Underground Railroad." Underground Railroad Digital Classroom: Profiles. N.p., 28 Mar. 2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2013...