The Grimke Sisters. Sarah And Angelina Grimke. The First American Women Advocates of Abolition and Woman's Rights by Catherine H. Birney. Sarah Moore Grimké (1792-1873) and Angelina Emily Grimké (1805-1879), known as the Grimké sisters, were the first American female advocates of abolition and women's rights. They were writers, orators, and educators.They grew up in a slave-holding family in the Southern United States but moved to the North in the 1820s, settling for a time in Philadelphia and becoming part of its substantial Quaker community. They became more deeply involved with the abolitionist movement, traveling on its lecture circuit and recounting their firsthand experiences with slavery on their family's plantation. Among the first American women to act publicly in social reform movements, they were ridiculed for their abolitionist activity. They became early activists in the women's rights movement. They eventually developed a private school.