image credit: Mississippi Department of Archives and History ccIn 1846 a pair of Quaker sisters came up with an idea. They were abolitionists and actively campaigned against domestic slavery in the United States. However, Hannah and Mary Townsend came to realize that in order to ensure the end of the oppressive servitude of so many of their countrymen and women that educating the young was vital.
A child, they decided, was not only able to fight against slavery in their adult years but as youngsters too. They produced a new way for the 26 letters to be taught by rote - the Anti-Slavery Alphabet.
