Author: Evans, Ann
Biography:
EVANS, Ann (fl 1826)
Africa was published anonymously and printed in Andover MA, the location suggesting that the author lived in or near there. The young editor of the newly founded (and short-lived) Free Press in Newburyport MA, William Lloyd Garrison, reviewed it warmly, recommending it "to all those who wish to cherish female genius, and whose best feelings are enlisted in the cause of the poor oppressed sons of Africa." He appears to have had some personal knowledge of the author, whom he describes as "a young lady of fine talents" though not well-to-do. The biography of Garrison by his sons claims that this review was his first sign of interest in the slavery issue to which he later dedicated most of his public life. Nothing more is known of Ann Evans--if indeed she was the unnamed young lady. (William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879: The Story of his Life Told by his Children [1885] 65; "Ann Evans," American Antislavery Writings: Colonial Beginnings to Emancipation [Library of America, 2012] accessed online 21 Nov. 2018) HJ