Read Part One HERE
In this post I will focus on a woman named Lucy Stone. She lived from 1818 - 1893.She was born in Massachusetts and was raised in a Congregational Church. She embraced her father's anti-slavery zeal.
Lucy was frustrated by the inequality that discouraged women from becoming educated.At age 16, she worked as a teacher, saving her money so she could attend college. In 1843 she attended Oberlin College in Ohio, Even progressive Oberlin, however, did not permit Lucy to explore her interest in public speaking. When she graduated in 1847, she declined the "honour" of writing a commencement speech that would be read by a man.
Almost thirty when she completed her education, Lucy's career prospects seemed dim since few professions were open to women. Renowed abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, however, hired her for his American Anti-Slavery Society. She wrote and delivered abolitionist speeches, while also becoming active in women's rights. Like other female abolitionists, Lucy was often heckled and at least once physically attacked by a mob. Nevertheless, she proved so popular that soon she was out-earning many male lecturers.
In 1850, two years after the Seneca Falls Women's Right Convention, Lucy organised the first national Women's Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her speech there was reprinted in the international press. For five years, Lucy travelled throughout the US and Canada on the lecture circuit. She continued to attend annual women's rights conventions and presided over the 7th one.She met Henry Blackwell, the brother of physicians Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, who convinced her to marry him by promising they could create an egalitarian marriage. Intended for publication, their 1855 vows omitted the then-common reference to wife obedience and included a protest against marital law. She also set a new standard by retaining her maiden name. While living in New Yersey, Lucy gave birth to two children, though the second one did not survive. Daughter Alice Stone Blackwell became a feminist and abolistionist, working alongside her parents.
P.S. In my next post I will continue with the story of Lucy Stone.
Read Part Eight HERE
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