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  • Florence, Massachusetts, U.S.
    1844
    Sojourner Truth

    Truth joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry

    Florence, Massachusetts, U.S.
    1844

    In 1844, she joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in Florence, Massachusetts. Founded by abolitionists, the organization supported women's rights and religious tolerance as well as pacifism. There were, in its four-and-a-half year history, a total of 240 members, though no more than 120 at any one time. They lived on 470 acres (1.9 km2), raising livestock, running a sawmill, a gristmill, and a silk factory. Truth lived and worked in the community and oversaw the laundry, supervising both men and women. While there, Truth met William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and David Ruggles. Encouraged by the community, Truth delivered her first anti-slavery speech that year.




  • Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
    1844
    Sojourner Truth

    Northampton Camp Meeting

    Northampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
    1844

    In 1844, Northampton, Massachusetts: At a camp meeting where she was participating as an itinerant preacher, a band of "wild young men" disrupted the camp meeting, refused to leave, and threatened to burn down the tents. Truth caught the sense of fear pervading the worshipers and hid behind a trunk in her tent, thinking that since she was the only black person present, the mob would attack her first. However, she reasoned with herself and resolved to do something: as the noise of the mob increased and a female preacher was "trembling on the preachers' stand," Truth went to a small hill and began to sing "in her most fervid manner, with all the strength of her most powerful voice, the hymn on the resurrection of Christ." Her song, "It was Early in the Morning," gathered the rioters to her and quieted them. They urged her to sing, preach, and pray for their entertainment. After singing songs and preaching for about an hour, Truth bargained with them to leave after one final song. The mob agreed and left the camp meeting.




  • Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
    1844
    Abraham Lincoln

    Lincoln began practicing law with William Herndon

    Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
    1844

    Lincoln emerged as a formidable trial combatant during cross-examinations and closing arguments. He partnered several years with Stephen T. Logan, and in 1844 began his practice with William Herndon, "a studious young man".




  • Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
    1844
    Abraham Lincoln

    Lincoln and Mary bought a house

    Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
    1844

    In 1844, the couple bought a house in Springfield near his law office. Mary kept house with the help of a relative and hired servant.




  • London, England, United Kingdom
    1844
    Buckingham Palace

    1844 Room

    London, England, United Kingdom
    1844

    Smaller ceremonies such as the reception of new ambassadors take place in the "1844 Room". Here too, the Queen holds small lunch parties, and often meetings of the Privy Council. Larger lunch parties often take place in the curved and domed Music Room or the State Dining Room.




  • Henderson, Kentucky, U.S.
    1844
    Elizabeth Blackwell

    Blackwell procured a teaching job

    Henderson, Kentucky, U.S.
    1844

    In 1844, with the help of her sister Anna, Blackwell procured a teaching job that paid $1,000 per year in Henderson, Kentucky. Although she was pleased with her class, she found the accommodations and schoolhouse lacking. What disturbed her most was that this was her first real encounter with the realities of slavery. "Kind as the people were to me personally, the sense of justice was continually outraged; and at the end of the first term of engagement I resigned the situation." She returned to Cincinnati only half a year later, resolved to find a more stimulating way to spend her life.




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