Henrietta Smith Bowers Duterte was a pioneering African-American funeral home owner, philanthropist, and courageous abolitionist from Philadelphia who turned her profession into a powerful tool of resistance, smuggling freedom through the very rituals meant to honor the dead. She holds a unique place in U.S. history as the first American woman to own and operate a mortuary. But beyond her groundbreaking success in business, her funeral home became a quiet but powerful tool of resistance, serving as a covert stop on the Underground Railroad during the 19th century.
Born in 1817 in Philadelphia to a prominent free Black family, Henrietta grew up in a world where Black excellence pushed back against the constant weight of racism. She was one of 13 children in a household where education, self-sufficiency, and abolitionist values were emphasized. Her brother John C. Bowers was an entrepreneur and abolitionist, while her other brother, Thomas Bowers, earned international acclaim as an opera singer, nicknamed “The Colored Mario.” Henrietta, known for her impeccable style, began her working life as a tailor, crafting fashionable garments for the city’s elite.
In 1852, she married Francis Duterte, a Haitian American coffin-maker and undertaker. When he passed away just six years later, Henrietta stepped into a role that was not only uncommon for women but virtually unheard of for a Black woman in 19th-century America. She took over the mortuary, boldly placing it under her own name, a decision that would make her both a pioneer and a quiet revolutionary.
Henrietta quickly became known in Philadelphia for her efficient, dignified funeral services. But it was what she did behind closed doors that set her apart. She used the tools of her trade, the coffins, hearses, and the presumed sanctity of burial rituals, as shields to protect runaway enslaved Africans. Her mortuary became a safe haven, a stop on the secret network that helped enslaved Africans flee northward toward freedom.
Some fugitives were hidden inside coffins, while others were disguised in mourning attires. With a funeral procession as cover, Henrietta could usher runaways through the streets without arousing suspicion. White society’s fear of disease and reluctance to interfere with anything related to death gave her the perfect camouflage. She transformed grief into resistance, using mourning as a cover to carry out acts of liberation.
Her work was dangerous. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 meant that anyone caught aiding runaways could face imprisonment or worse. Yet Henrietta carried on, risking everything to ensure others could live freely. The exact number of people she helped escape is unknown, but her legacy lies not in numbers, it lies in the resistance, cleverness, and quiet heroism that she demonstrated again and again.
Her financial success empowered her to give back generously. Henrietta supported several Black institutions and causes. She gave generously to Black churches, supported the Philadelphia Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons, and contributed to the Freedman’s Aid Society, which helped formerly enslaved people rebuild their lives after the Civil War.
Henrietta Duterte died in 1903 at the age of 86, leaving behind not only a successful mortuary business but a legacy of courage hidden beneath layers of formality and sorrow. She had turned her profession into a powerful tool of resistance, smuggling freedom through the very rituals meant to honor the dead.
In her later years, Henrietta Duterte handed over the mortuary to her nephew, Joseph Seth, securing the legacy of a business that had become far more than a funeral home. She passed away on December 23, 1903, at the age of 86, and was laid to rest at Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, Pennsylvania, one of the oldest Black cemeteries in the country and home to many other African American pioneers.
Sources:
https://www.historicamerica.org/journal/2021/4/8/the-work-and-activism-of-henrietta-s-bowers-duterte
