Changemaker 26: Isabel Jennings

Today's changemaker is Isabel Jennings. She is considered an important female figure in Douglass' life as she was a lifelong close friend of his and was actively involved in his oratorical effort. Jennings was born to a large family of ten people who lived in Brown Street in the center of Cork City and ran a successful soda-water and mineral-water business. Jennings’s family was part of a Unitarian community in Cork and was involved with political activism, including temperance and anti-slavery movements. As the secretary of Cork Ladies Anti-Slavery Society, Jennings was in regular communication with anti-slavery activists/abolitionists in the US. Jennings also organized the sending over of material from Cork to put on sale at the Boston Bazaar, a fundraising event held each Christmas for the American Anti-Slavery Society, which had Frederick Douglass as a member.

When touring Ireland in 1845, the Jennings family hosted him for a month while he was in Cork and Isabel praised his support to both the Cork Anti-Slavery Society and Cork Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. 

Douglass and Jennings grew particularly close. She was his constant companion as he made his way through the city, delivering powerful speeches and selling copies of his autobiography. Douglass addressed her as “Dear Isa” in his later letter and they stayed in touch for the rest of their lives.

No photo exists of Isabel Jennings which is why we have chosen a letter of the Cork Ladies Anti-Slavery Society to represent her.

Photo credit: Cork Anti-Slavery Society leaflet, 1847. From Mayor Dowden's archive at Cork Citxy Archives. @corkarchives - Find the full letter here!

#DouglassWeek #changemakers #bethechange #DW2022 #countdown #socialjustice #civilrights #blackhistorymonth #Ireland #abolitionist #strongwomen #corkcity #FrederickDouglass