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Contribution #228 of 365
Robert Purvis
Property Owner, Business Investor and Antislavery Organizer
1830s–1890s
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Born free in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1810 to a Black American mother, Robert Purvis inherited and managed property and investments that gave him unusual economic independence. From his Philadelphia home and farm he financed antislavery work, assisted freedom seekers and helped organize Black civic institutions. Purvis used private wealth, property and business resources to sustain one of the nation's longest careers in abolition and equal-rights advocacy.