A Road Scholar Program by Jane Ann Moore

In 1836, pro-Slavery mobs attacked and destroyed the presses of the Alton Observer three times. The editor, Elijah Lovejoy, continued to publish the paper until November, when a fourth mob captured the press and murdered the co-founder of the Illinois State Antislavery Society. Elijah Lovejoy's martyrdom rejuvenated the national antislavery movement. In the words of his brother Owen, "I vowed on my knees before God never to forsake the cause for which his blood was sprinkled." In this presentation, Jane Ann Moore presents the story of Elijah and Owen Lovejoy and their tireless work through churches, newspapers, lecture tours, political parties, and other antislavery groups to establish equality for all people in the United States.