The Dissenting Atlantic: Archives and Unquiet Libraries
In this talk drawn from her recent book, Bridget Bennett discusses a historically situated set of transatlantic relationships, chiefly but not exclusively centred on antislavery communities of dissenters in Yorkshire, Newcastle and Pennsylvania. Focusing on quotidian and everyday antislavery work, as well as its more familiar public face, she brings together Black abolitionists, Quakers and others who were part of what she calls the dissenting Atlantic. Girls who attended Ackworth School in Pontefract sewed antislavery samplers and petitioned the school to teach them more about antislavery. Black abolitionist lecturers including Henry “Box” Brown, William Wells Brown, Ellen and William Craft, Frederick Douglass and Sarah Parker Remond all visited Leeds and addressed large audiences. Leeds’ theatres put on adaptations of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s best-selling novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Bennett seeks to restore some of the less familiar stories and figures from Leeds’ antislavery past, including by focusing on the work of Wilson Armistead, a member of the Leeds Library and a prolific antislavery writer and activist.
Lecture on 18th September 2025
Joining the Thoresby Society offers a unique opportunity to engage deeply with the history and heritage of Leeds. Members enjoy exclusive access to our extensive archives, a complimentary annual publication, and a calendar of engaging talks, excursions, and events.