A religious and philosophical child prodigy from Philadelphia, George Lippard (1822–1854) was a prolific author and a steadfast defender of the oppressed. In 1847, he founded the Brotherhood of America, an organization that continues to champion the underprivileged today, and his writings are said to have awakened Abraham Lincoln to the plight of slaves. Lippard, whose best known essays recorded "Legends" of old Philadelphia, was also a close friend of Edgar Allan Poe.

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