Date of Award
Spring 4-7-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
April 2026
Department
Comparative Studies Program
College Granting Degree
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Department Granting Degree
Comparative Studies Program
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Taylor Hagood
Abstract
Nancy Gardner Prince (c. 1799-1859), although never enslaved, dedicated her life to emancipation. She first emancipated herself from the constraints of racial prejudice and poverty in the US North by moving to Russia for nearly a decade. After leaving Russia and returning to Boston in 1833, Prince worked to emancipate enslaved and formerly enslaved Africans and their descendants in the US and the British West Indies— through writing, public speaking, community activism, and philanthropy. Until the late twentieth century, Prince’s publications were lost to history, and very little was known about her life.
In this interdisciplinary biographical recovery project, I examine Prince’s writings, her movements, and her life, across the geographic, cultural, legal, and political boundaries that she traversed. This study incorporates and combines elements of legal history, contemporary literary studies, and material print culture studies. I connect archival research and Prince’s writings, bound and unbound, along with contextual historical information, to supply a fuller biographical and literary portrait of Prince than currently exists. This work is part of an ongoing act of restoring Prince in the public memory, which has included locating her unmarked grave site in Everett, Massachusetts.
Recommended Citation
Tal-Mason, Ali Friedberg, "SAILING STILL: THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF NANCY GARDNER PRINCE (1799-1859)" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 280.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general/280