Elizabeth Riley

Elizabeth Cook Riley (; 1792 – 1855) was an African-American Bostonian abolitionist who aided in the escape of fugitive slave Shadrach Minkins. She was a member of the committee which raised the first funds towards William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator, a prominent antislavery newspaper. Afterwards, she was active in the Boston abolitionist community, helping to organize meetings and events. Biography Personal life Born Elizabeth Cook, Riley was married to William Riley, the owner of a clothing store at 22 Brattle Street, which he had been operating since 1827. She also had two daughters, apparently from a previous marriage, named Sarah and Ann Jackson. With William she had three more children: William Jr., George, and Eliza Riley. Her husband died in 1849 and left most of his estate to her. Activism Though she was apparently unable to write, Riley was active in the abolitionist community that surrounded The Liberator, being a member of the African-American Female Intelligence Society and the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. Riley was once accused of spending $2000 of her husband's money as donations to the local church, leaving their family impoverished and starving. Mrs. Riley and her husband subsequently refuted this rumor in the newspaper, noting that they had contributed only modestly, and stating that while they sometimes experienced financial difficulty, they were always able to get by. On his death, Mr. Riley willed additional funds to the building fund of the church.