Born: Unknown, United States
Died: 1849
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
Born enslaved, as an adult free woman Hester Lane built her own business and used her success to buy other people out of slavery, as well as working tirelessly as a fundraiser for different organisations. But while the men, particularly white men, were happy for her financial support in the cause of abolition, she was prevented from taking a leadership role. When women were finally admitted to the executive committee in the American Anti-Slavery Society, of which Lane was a member, they were all Caucasian. Her nomination had been rejected, leading one member to comment, “Hester Lane is well known in this city as a woman of good character and senses, and has been a slave, but the ‘principle’ could not carry her color.” Soon after, she gave up her abolition work, and the cause lost a dedicated proponent.