Editing Frances Wright (section)

===Political and social activist===
[[File:A downright gabbler, or a goose that deserves to be hissed - Published by J(ames) Akin Philada. LCCN2002708975.jpg|thumb|left|A hostile [[cartoon]] lampooning Wright for daring to deliver a series of lectures in 1829, at a time when many felt that public speaking was not an appropriate activity for women.]]
Beginning in the late 1820s and early 1830s, Wright spoke publicly in favor of abolition and lectured to support women's suffrage. She also campaigned for reforms to marriage and property laws. While residing in New York City, she purchased a former church in the Bowery area and converted it into a "Hall of Science" as a lecture hall.<ref name=Gaylor37>Gaylor, p. 37.</ref> From 1833 to 1836, her lectures on slavery and other social institutions attracted large and enthusiastic audiences of men and women in the eastern United States and the Midwest, leading to the establishment of what were called Fanny Wright societies. Although her lecture tours extended to the principal cities of the United States, the enunciation of her views and publication of a collection of her speeches in her book, ''Course of Popular Lectures'' (1829 and 1836), met with opposition.<ref name=Bowman/><ref name=ac/><ref name=Elliott141-42/>

The clergy and the press were critical of Wright and her opinions on religion and social reform.<ref name=Exploring1103/> The ''New York American'', for example, called Wright "a female monster" because of her controversial views, but she was undeterred.<ref>Sanders, p. 5.</ref> As Wright's philosophy became even more radical, she left the Democratic Party to join the [[Working Men's Party (New York)|Working Men's Party]], organized in New York City in 1829.<ref name=Exploring1103/><ref>{{cite journal| author=Carlton, Frank T.| title =The Workingmen's Party of New York City: 1829–1831 | journal =Political Science Quarterly | volume =22 | issue =3 | page=402 | date = September 1907| doi =10.2307/2141055 | jstor =2141055 | url = https://archive.org/details/jstor-2141055/page/n1| access-date =May 1, 2019}}</ref> Her influence on the Working Men's Party was so strong that its opponents called its slate of candidates the Fanny Wright ticket.<ref name=Bowman/> Wright was also an activist in the American [[Popular Health Movement]] in the 1830s and advocated for [[women in medicine|women being involved in health and medicine]].<ref name=Exploring1103/>