Frances Wright
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Frances Wright (1795-1852) was a lecturer who grew up in London and toured the United States from 1818 to 1820. She lived in France for a while and married a French physician, Guillayme D'Arusmont. She became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1825. Wright advocated abolition, universal equality in education, and feminism. She also attacked organized religion, greed, and capitalism. Along with Robert Owen, Wright demanded that the government offer free boarding schools.
Wright was the co-founder of Free Inquirer magazine and is the author of Views of Society and Manners in America (1821), A Few Days in Athens (1822), and Course of Popular Lectures (1836).
Wright founded the Nashoba Commune in 1825, intending to educate slaves to prepare them for freedom and colonization in Haiti. Nashoba was based on Owen's New Harmony settlement and theories of racial equality, but outlasted New Harmony. Nashoba lasted until Wright became ill with malaria and moved back to Europe to recover. The interim management of Nashoba did not take Wright's benevolent approach to the slaves living in Nashoba. Rumors spread of inter-racial marriage and the Commune fell into financial difficulty, eventually leading to its closing.
As an activist in the American Popular Health Movement between 1830 and 1840, Wright brought acceptance to women being involved in health and medicine. After the midterm political campaign of 1838, Wright suffered from a variety of health problems. She died in 1852.
External links
- Frances Wright, Woman's Advocate (http://www.electricscotland.com/history/women/wih3.htm)
- Biography with excerpt from Lectures (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REwright.htm)