Sidney Howard Gay

Sidney Howard Gay (1814-1888) was an American journalist and Abolitionist.

Early Life

Gay was born in 1814 to the lawyer Ebenezer Gay and Mary Alleyne Otis, niece of American Revolutionary leader James Otis, Jr and Mercy Otis Warren, like her brother a Revolutionary activist. In 1833 he graduated from Harvard College. After working in his father's practice, in 1842 became involved in the Abolitionist movement, first as a lecturer for the Anti-Slavery Society and then in 1843, the editor of the New York based publication, Anti-Slavery Standard. He was married in 1845 to Elizabeth Neall who was herself an abolitionist and involved in the woman's rights movement of the day.[1]

Abolition and the Underground Railroad

In addition to his being the editor of the Anti-Slavery Standard and lecturing for the American Anti-Slavery Society, he was also active in assisting the escape to freedom of fugitive slaves in the years preceding the American Civil War. His Record of Fugitive Slaves documents the activity of the Underground Railroad in assisting the escape to freedom of fugitive slaves from the South.[2]

Career as a Journalist

After serving as editor of the Anti-Slavery Standard, in 1857 Gay joined the New York Tribune, becoming its managing editor in 1862, and through the duration of the American Civil War. Gay then became managing editor of the Chicago Tribune in 1867 where he remained until after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. For two years beginning in 1872 he served on the editorial staff of the New York Evening Post.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ Harvard University Class of 1833 (1883). Memorials of the Class of 1833 of Harvard College. J. Wilson and son. pp. 112–115.
  2. ↑ Foner, Eric (2015). Gateway to Freedom. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393244076.
  3. ↑ Memorials of the Class of 1833 of Harvard College. pp. 112–115.
  4. ↑ "Guide to the Sydney Howard Gay Papers, 1748-1931". Retrieved 2015-01-15.

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