garrison's appeal for women's mass petitioning against slavery sparked a controversy over women's right to a political voice. in 1837, women abolitionists from seven states convened in new york to expand their petitioning efforts and repudiate the social mores that proscribed their participation in public affairs. that summer, sisters angelina grimké and sarah grimké responded to the controversy roused by their public speaking with treatises on woman's rights—angelina's "letters to catherine e. beecher" and sarah's "letters on the equality of the sexes and condition of woman"—and garrison published them first in "the liberator" and then in book form. instead of surrendering to appeals for him to retreat on the "woman question," garrison announced in december 1837 that "the liberator" would support "the rights of woman to their utmost extent." the massachusetts anti-slavery society appointed women to leadership positions and hired abby kelley as the first of several female field agents.