Elizabeth Freeman in 1811 In freedom, “Mum Bett” found secure employment with the family of her lawyer, Theodore Sedgwick. A Sedgwick son later wrote, “If there could be a practical refutation of the imagined superiority of our race to hers, the life and character of this woman would afford that refutation. She had, when occasion required it, an air of command which conferred a degree of dignity.” © Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA, USA/The Bridgeman Art Library.