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Ona Judge was born into slavery at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate in Virginia. When George Washington was elected president of the United States, Judge and seven other enslaved people traveled to Philadelphia, the first capital of the country, to work for the Washington family there. Judge was determined to seek her freedom. On a May evening in 1796 she left the president’s home in Philadelphia and made her way on board a ship that sailed for Portsmouth, NH. Judge lived in Portsmouth for a while, but someone recognized her and contacted the Washingtons. She moved to Greenland, NH, where it was a little safer for her. The Washingtons kept trying to get her back, but she was never recaptured. Judge married a free black man, John Staines, and had three children. She lived the rest of her life in New Hampshire, though she never became legally free. There are no portraits of Ona Judge, or of most enslaved people of that time.

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Sarah Josepha Hale was one of the most famous women in America in the 19th century. She was born in Newport, New Hampshire. She wrote novels and poems, including “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” which became a popular nursery rhyme. Later she was the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, an important magazine that was read by women all over the country. Because of this job, Sarah Josepha Hale had a lot of influence. She spoke out against slavery and in favor of more education for women. She also persuaded President Abraham Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.

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Franklin Pierce was the only person from New Hampshire to be president of the United States. He was born and raised in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, and later moved to Concord. He was a lawyer and a politician. Before he was elected president, he represented New Hampshire in the U.S. Congress. He also served in the U.S. Army in the Mexican-American War. He was president for one term, from 1853 to 1857. This was a very difficult time for the United States. There was a lot of tension between the North and the South over slavery. President Pierce thought it was more important to keep the country together than to abolish slavery. He tried to find a compromise between the two sides, but it did not work and made the problems worse. 

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Nathaniel Peabody Rogers was an important abolitionist from New Hampshire. That means that he worked to end slavery. He was from Plymouth, New Hampshire, and later lived in Concord. Nathaniel Rogers was a lawyer. As a young man he came to believe that slavery was wrong and should be abolished. He founded the first antislavery society in the state. Later he became the editor of an abolitionist newspaper, the Herald of Freedom. He wrote essays in the newspaper to try and convince people that slavery should end.

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The Hutchinson Family Singers were the most popular American singing group in the 1840s and 1850s. They were a group of siblings from Milford, New Hampshire, who traveled around the country singing together. There were 16 brothers and sisters in the family, but they did not all sing together at the same time. The Hutchinsons wrote a lot of their own songs, including “The Old Granite State,” which was about New Hampshire. They also sang songs about religion, the rights of factory workers, and women’s rights. They became especially known for songs that protested slavery and called for enslaved people to be set free. 

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Armenia White was an important reformer in New Hampshire in the 19th century. She was an abolitionist, which means she worked to end slavery. She also fought for women’s rights, such as the right to vote. She wrote letters, gave speeches, and tried to persuade politicians to pass laws to fix society’s problems. Armenia White was wealthy, so she was able to donate a lot of money to support these causes. She and her family also donated money to arts and cultural organizations, especially in their hometown of Concord, New Hampshire. Thanks in part to Armenia White, American women got the right to vote in 1920.

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Harriet Wilson, from Milford, New Hampshire, was the first Black person to publish a novel in the United States. The book, Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, was published in 1859. The book is autobiographical, which means that the story was similar to Harriet Wilson’s own life. The main character, Frado, was the daughter of a Black man and a white woman. She had a very difficult childhood. She had to work for a cruel white family who treated her badly. Harriet Wilson wrote the book to explain that there was racism against Black people in the North. The book did not sell many copies when it was published, but it became famous many years later, long after Harriet Wilson had died. The word “Nig” in the title of the book is short for a longer word that is no longer used because it is offensive.