Child’s Appeal is the abolitionist work that undermined her career as a children’s writer. Her willingness to imagine a future in which interracial marriage would no longer inspire repugnance led the parents of children who read the Juvenile Miscellany to cancel their subscriptions. Undaunted, Child continued to work for the abolition of slavery. While her abolitionist writing may have undone her successful career in children’s literature, it enhanced her work as an antislavery activist. William Lloyd Garrison, the renowned abolitionist, called Child “the first woman in the republic,” referring to her passion for justice.

Boston Public Library, Rare Books & Manuscripts