Julia Griffiths (Born, May 21, 1811 in London, England) [1] was a British Abolitionist who worked with Frederick Douglass. The two met in [London, England]] during Douglass' tour of the British Isles in 1845-47. In 1849, Griffiths joined Douglass in Rochester, and edited, published and promoted his work. She was one of six founding members of the influential Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society.[2] She is most noted for publishing Autographs for Freedom[3], an anthology of anti-slavery literature. In 1854, there were unfounded accusations, leveled by William Lloyd Garrison, that Douglass and Griffiths engaged in infidelity. [4] Griffiths returned to England in 1855, where she continued to organize ladies' anti-slavery societies, write columns for Douglass's newspapers, and raise funds for the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Sewing Society, later called the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery and Freedmen's Aid Society. In 1859, she married Henry O. Crofts, a minister who had lived among fugitive slaves in Canada. After her husband's death, Crofts ran a school for girls in St. Neots.[5]
National Archives, London, England. 1871 England Census, South Ward, Gateshead,England, p. 41. Frank E. Fee Jr., "To No One More Indebted: Frederick Douglass and Julia Griffiths, 1849-63," Journalism Historyh 35, no. 1 (Spring 2011): 12-26. Edwin Palmer, "A Partnership in the Abolition Movement," University of Rochester Library Bulletin, 25, 1 & 2: (Autumn & Winter 1971). http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?page=3476