GRIMKÉ, Angelina (contrib.); WEBB, Samuel (ed.).

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History of Pennsylvania Hall, Which Was Destroyed by a Mob, On the 17th of May, 1838. First edition. The book prints in full Grimké's speech delivered on the day of the attack, together with commentaries by leading abolitionists. Hostility to women and fears of miscegenation meant that the speech prompted violent protest. This copy belonged to William L. Rakestraw, a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad.Built as a "Temple of Free Discussion", the Hall was opened on 14 May 1838 to provide abolitionists with a place to meet. It housed a reading room, a free produce store, lecture rooms, and offices. Yet, by 17 May, the building had been destroyed. In its short life, it played host to the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women, attended by both races. The public were outraged at the idea of racial mixing and protested with both placards and bricks, culminating in a mob of 15,000 demonstrators - largely workers who feared having to compete for jobs with formerly enslaved people - setting the Hall alight. The Philadelphia Hall Society spent the following decade raising awareness of the injustice and campaigning for compensation."Though the hall stood for only a short time, it had an important and lasting effect on the regional and national antislavery movements. People who had previously ignored abolitionists, or expressed irritation at them for "agitating" and endangering the Union, began to reconsider their stance in light of this obvious attack upon free speech" (Philadel

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