Emily Edmonson
1835–1895 · Pearl escape survivor, abolitionist, founding Hillsdale resident
Emily Edmonson and her sister Mary were among the 77 enslaved people who attempted to flee Washington aboard the schooner Pearl in April 1848, the largest single nonviolent escape attempt in U.S. history; their freedom was purchased later that year. A teacher and abolitionist, she bought lots on the Anacostia River in 1869, becoming a founding member of the Barry Farm–Hillsdale community alongside her neighbor Frederick Douglass.
Connection to Anacostia: Founding resident of Barry Farm–Hillsdale, purchasing land on the Anacostia River in 1869.