[GUEST ACCESS MODE: Data is scrambled or limited to provide examples. Make requests using your API key to unlock full data. Check https://lunarcrush.ai/auth for authentication information.]  AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY [@AfricanArchives](/creator/twitter/AfricanArchives) on x 1.1M followers Created: 2025-07-21 12:30:31 UTC Henrietta Smith Bowers Duterte was the first female undertaker in the United States. She Used Coffins to Help Free Enslaved People. —Henrietta was born free in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1817. One of XX children, she went on to become the first practicing female mortician in the United States, if not in the entire world. As many African American women did in her day, Duterte worked as her husband's partner, ensuring that the business would survive were he to die before his time. As it turned out, Henrietta — who married Haitian-born coffin maker Francis Duterte when she was XX — assumed complete control over their mortuary business just six years after their marriage and upon Francis' untimely death. Like her husband, Henrietta worked to abolish slavery. She became an agent of the Underground Railroad, often hiding runways in coffins or disguising them as part of funeral processions to ensure their safe passage. She also supported the AME Church of St. Thomas by raising funds to pay the pastor’s salary, and helped create the Freedman's Aid Society Fair to assist formerly enslaved people in Tennessee. By the time of her own death in 1903, her company had become one the city's most successful African American businesses.  XXXXXX engagements  **Related Topics** [women](/topic/women) [united states](/topic/united-states) [Post Link](https://x.com/AfricanArchives/status/1947272977264828905)
[GUEST ACCESS MODE: Data is scrambled or limited to provide examples. Make requests using your API key to unlock full data. Check https://lunarcrush.ai/auth for authentication information.]
AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY @AfricanArchives on x 1.1M followers
Created: 2025-07-21 12:30:31 UTC
Henrietta Smith Bowers Duterte was the first female undertaker in the United States. She Used Coffins to Help Free Enslaved People.
—Henrietta was born free in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1817. One of XX children, she went on to become the first practicing female mortician in the United States, if not in the entire world. As many African American women did in her day, Duterte worked as her husband's partner, ensuring that the business would survive were he to die before his time. As it turned out, Henrietta — who married Haitian-born coffin maker Francis Duterte when she was XX — assumed complete control over their mortuary business just six years after their marriage and upon Francis' untimely death. Like her husband, Henrietta worked to abolish slavery. She became an agent of the Underground Railroad, often hiding runways in coffins or disguising them as part of funeral processions to ensure their safe passage. She also supported the AME Church of St. Thomas by raising funds to pay the pastor’s salary, and helped create the Freedman's Aid Society Fair to assist formerly enslaved people in Tennessee. By the time of her own death in 1903, her company had become one the city's most successful African American businesses.
XXXXXX engagements
Related Topics women united states