William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator

In 1831, William Lloyd Garrison began publication of The Liberator, the premier antislavery newspaper in Boston and the United States. While he played a central role in the antebellum abolitionist movement here, Garrison’s efforts were only part of a larger—sometimes uneasy—alliance of Black and white Bostonians in a crusade for freedom and equality that already was underway when The Liberator first appeared. Even in the “cradle of liberty,” abolitionists faced the hostility of fellow citizens who did not share their egalitarian ideals, or thought that antislavery agitation would lead to civil war.

The Liberator commenced January 1st 1831, Garrison antislavery banner
Cotton, paint, silk fringe, 1843 William Lloyd Garrison
Marble bust by Anne Whitney, 1878 William Lloyd Garrison
Photomechanical Imposing stone for The Liberator
Pine, iron, [circa 1840] The Liberator (first issue)