The Michigan Anti-Slavery Society, also known as the Michigan State Anti-Slavery Society, was created on November 10, 1836, in Ann Arbor, which was part of the Michigan Territory from 1805 to 1837. The first meeting took place at the First Presbyterian Church on East Huron Street. The society was part of a movement to end slavery in several states during the 1830s and supported efforts to help enslaved people escape through the Underground Railroad.

The society was formed by 75 people who wanted to end slavery, from six different counties. It received support from Wesleyan Methodists and Quakers. In Michigan, some people supported ending slavery, while others supported slavery. Guy Beckley and Theodore Foster, editors of the Signal of Liberty, wrote: "Our neighbors accuse us of being 'worse than horse thieves,' because we have helped the colored man in his dangerous journey to freedom. We are also called lawbreakers who do not respect the government." (The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 made it illegal to help enslaved people escape.)

The society held meetings at the First Presbyterian Church for ten years, even though the Presbyterian Church of the United States did not want to take a political position on slavery. Some members of the church left to form the First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor in 1847.

One of the society’s goals was to start an anti-slavery newspaper in Michigan. The first was the American Freeman, then the Michigan Freeman. These were later replaced by the weekly Signal of Liberty in 1841. The society’s leaders helped support the newspaper. A historic marker now stands at the site of the First Presbyterian Church to honor its role in creating the anti-slavery society and the newspapers.

The society was later reorganized in Adrian by Stephen Symonds Foster, Abby Kelley Foster, Sojourner Truth, Jonathan Walker, Marius Robinson, and Sallie Holley.