George William Curtis (February 24, 1824 - August 31, 1892) was an American writer and public speaker, born in Providence, Rhode Island, of New Englander ancestry. A Republican, he spoke in favor of African American equality and civil rights.Curtis, the son of George and Mary Elizabeth (Burrill) Curtis, was born in Providence on February 24, 1824, and his mother died when he was two. His maternal grandfather, James Burrill, Jr., served in the United States Senate representing Rhode Island from 1817 to 1820. At six he was sent with his elder brother to school in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, where he remained for five years. Then, his father having again married happily, the boys were brought home to Providence, where they stayed till, in around 1839, their father moved to New York. Three years later, Curtis, fell in sympathy with the spirit of the so-called Transcendental movement. He joined the communal experiment known as Brook Farm from 1842 to 1843. He was accompanied by his brother, James Burrill Curtis, whose influence on him was strong and helpful. He remained there for two years, and met many interesting men and women.