by Court | May 31, 2021
“People who say bad things about her in the park have had objects dropped on their head, or fallen suddenly as if pushed. The sudden appearance of a crow seems to herald Mary’s presence, and she has even taken her human form and walked among the trees and...
by Court | May 21, 2021
“From Mam’zelle LaVeaux Mary learned to mentor her people and to use the secrets of the rich to gain aid for the poor – a ‘model’ that would serve her well in San Francisco.” Sushell Bibbs, Heritage of Power Mary Ellen Pleasant had a...
by Court | May 17, 2021
“I don’t like to be called mammy by everybody. Put. That. Down. I am not mammy to everybody in California. I received a letter from a pastor in Sacramento. It was addressed to Mammy Pleasant. I wrote back to him on his own paper that my name was Mrs. Mary...
by Court | May 14, 2021
“I’d rather be a corpse than a coward.” Mary Ellen Pleasant’s Story Mary Ellen Pleasant was a prominent abolitionist in the lead up to the Civil War, in California and beyond. Some of the details about her work are up for debate, but there is no doubt that...
by Court | May 10, 2021
“When Mary Pleasant left the sheltered island of Nantucket as a young woman she took with her her invaluable business skills, an informal yet substantial education, and political savvy that would last a lifetime.” – The Making of Mammy Pleasant: A Black...
by Court | May 6, 2021
“Mary Ellen Pleasant is an enigma. She has puzzled California historians for generations. Not all the pieces of her life fit neatly together; not everything can be explained. . . She became a ‘figment of imagination as much as a figure of history.’” – Paul...
