“I am neither Jew nor Gentile, Mohammedan nor Theist; I am but a member of the human family, and would accept of truth by whomsoever offered -- that truth which we can all find, if we will but seek in things, not in words; in nature, not in human imagination; in our own hearts, not in temples made with hands.”Birth: September 6, 1775, in Dundee, Scotland
Parents: Unknown
Education: At the the of twenty-one, she lived with her great uncle who taught at Glasgow College in Scotland. He allowed her to use the college library, Wright studied the culture and history of the United States. After a year in Glasgow, Fanny set out for New York in 1818.
Death: December 13, 1852, in Cincinnati, Ohio
Orphaned at the age of two, she inherited substantial means, which enabled her to escape from England and her strict relatives upon coming of age. She went to the United States in 1818, and her play about struggle for republicanism in Switzerland was performed in 1819 in New York City. Her and her sisters pent almost two years traveling through the Northeast before returning to Great Britain. Frances’ travel diary, Views of Society and Manners in America, was published in 1821, and was presented a rosy view of the U.S. In 1825, she published a pamphlet that suggested a plan to end slavery without harming the whites of the South. To put her plan to the test, Wright bought 640 acres near Chicasaw Bluffs, Tennessee. She bought slaves and promised them freedom after five ears of work at her settlement, which she called Nashoba. In ill health, Wright returned to Europe in 1827.
When she returned a year later, poor crops and scandals had nearly destroyed Nashoba. Wright immediately wrote an article defending Nashoba. The article also attacked the institution of marriage, taboos against sex between whites and African Americans, and religions.
That year, Wright became part owner and editor of The New-Harmony Gazette, a newspaper linked with the utopian community of New Harmony, Indiana. She used the newspaper to promote such reforms as equal rights of woman, birth control, and public education for all Americans.
In 1829, following a lecture tour of the East and Midwest Wright moved the paper, (now called The Free Enquirer,) to New York. She continued to urge reforms: legal rights for married woman, less rigid divorce laws,and end to death penalty.
“I am not going to question your opinions. I am not going to meddle with your belief. I am not going to dictate to you mine. All that I say is, examine, inquire. Look into the nature of things. Search out the grounds of your opinions, the for and against. Know why you believe, understand what you believe, and possess a reason for the faith that is in you.”