Blue plaque for Sunderland Quaker women
‘Sunderland’s Quaker women led the local anti-slavery campaign from the 1790s.'
The role played by Sunderland Quaker women in the anti-slavery movement is to be honoured with a blue plaque. The move follows a successful bid by academics at the University of Sunderland. The plaque will be unveiled in Sunderland city centre on 30 June and fixed to the façade of the newly-restored buildings at 172-3 High Street West.
Angela Smith, the professor of Language and Culture who led the bid, says women in the North East are now seen as instrumental in running the successful anti-slavery campaigns of the nineteenth century.
‘We have all heard of William Wilberforce, and many of the men whose names are attached to his as anti-slavery campaigners in the 18th century are commemorated around the country.
‘In Sunderland, we have a blue plaque to mark the contribution of James Field Stanfield. However, what is less well known is the way the anti-slavery movement continued in Britain after the official abolition of slavery in 1807. The new plaque in Sunderland will be located on the building that housed the first Binns department store.’
The plaque reads: ‘Sunderland’s Quaker women led the local anti-slavery campaign from the 1790s. They advocated the boycotting of West Indian sugar and American cotton. The Quaker-owned Binns store, formerly on this site, refused to stock slave-produced goods.’
The virtual unveiling will feature short talks by Angela Smith, who will give a background to the role of women in political activism, and Ann Smith, who will talk about the Sunderland Quaker women’s contribution.
