William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879)

An outspoken newspaper man, Garrison, is probably most known for his stand against slavery, and the liberal speech he used to denounce it and other social issues of his day. He was the founder and publisher of the newspaper "The Liberator" (which ran from 1830 to 1865). Garrison was active in organizing the New England Anti-Slavery Society and the American Anti-Slavery Society.

On July 4, 1854, protesting that the US Constitution permitted slavery, Garrison burned a copy of the document in public at an abolitionist meeting at Harmony Grove, on the banks of Farm Pond, Framingham, Mass.