Miss Grimke reluctantly gave up the exercise of her
constitutional right to visit her native city and in a very
literal sense she became a permanent exile.

The two sisters let their light shine among Philadelphia Quakers.
In the religious meetings negro women were consigned to a special
seat. The Grimkes, having first protested against this
discrimination, took their own places on the seat with the
colored women. In Charleston, Angelina had scrupulously adhered
to the Quaker garb because it was viewed as a protest against
slavery. In Philadelphia, however, no such meaning was attached
to the costume, and she adopted clothing suited to the climate
regardless of conventions. A series of parlor talks to women
which had been organized by the sisters grew in interest until
the parlors became inadequate, and the speakers were at last
addressing large audiences of women in the public meeting-places
of Philadelphia.

At this time when Angelina was making effective use of her
unrivaled power as a public speaker, she received in 1836 an
invitation from the Anti-slavery Society of New York to address
the women of that city. She informed her sister that she believed
this to be a call from God and that it was her duty to accept.
Sarah decided to be her companion and assistant in the work in
the new field, which was similar to that in Philadelphia. Its
fame soon extended to Boston, whence came an urgent invitation to
visit that city. It was in Massachusetts that men began to steal
into the women's meetings and listen from the back seats. In Lynn
all barriers were broken down, and a modest, refined, and
naturally diffident young woman found herself addressing immense