Lucy Stone, 1847
*Lucy Stone was born on this date in 1818. As a white-American reformer, she pioneered the abolitionist and women's rights movements.
Lucy Stone was born near West Brookfield, Mass., and, disagreeing with her father's belief that men should be dominant over women, she educated herself and graduated from Oberlin College in 1847. A woman of great personal magnetism, she toured the country, lecturing against slavery for the Anti-Slavery Society, advocating equality for women. She organized the first national women's rights convention in Worcester, Mass., in 1850.
Five years later, she married Henry Blackwell, a crusader for women's suffrage, and by mutual agreement with her husband, she retained her maiden name. She then focused on winning equality for women, generally through legislation, with many setbacks. She helped organize the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. In 1872, she and her husband were in charge of the Woman's Journal, an effective forum for communicating their views.
She continued to be active in the cause of slavery and women's rights almost until she died in Dorchester, Mass., on Oct. 18, 1893.
The African American Desk Reference
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Copyright 1999 The Stonesong Press Inc. and
The New York Public Library, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Pub.
ISBN 0-471-23924-0
