Robert Purvis was an antebellum African-American abolitionist in the United States. He was born in Charleston, educated at Amherst, and lived most of his life in Philadelphia. Since Purvis and his brothers were three-quarters white, they were light-skinned and could have lived as whites. They both chose instead to identify with the black community and use their education and wealth to support abolition and anti-slavery activities, as well as projects in education to help African Americans advance.