Sally Maria Diggs was a slave girl, also known as "Pinky," whose freedom was famously bought by Henry Ward Beecher

Henry Ward Beecher

Henry Ward Beecher was a prominent Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, abolitionist, and speaker in the mid to late 19th century...

 in 1860, during a sermon at Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, NY. Beecher famously said, "No child should be in slavery, let alone a child like this’ and raised $900 to purchase her freedom. The episode was celebrated in a number of paintings and drawings at the time, including Eastman Johnson

Eastman Johnson

Eastman Johnson was an American painter, and Co-Founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, with his name inscribed at its entrance...

's "Freedom Ring."

In 2010 "Pinky" was celebrated by sculptor Meredith Bergmann

Meredith Bergmann

Meredith Bergmann, is a U.S. sculptor and poet whose work is said to "forge enriching links between the past and the concerns of the present." She studied at Wesleyan University and graduated from The Cooper Union with a BFA. While at Cooper Union she discovered sculpture and spent several years...

.

In 1927, "Pinky" returned to Plymouth Church to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Henry Ward Beecher's first sermon at Plymouth Church.