Lucy Stone (1818-1893) was an abolitionist and suffragette from a farm in Massachusetts. Even though her family were strong abolitionists, her father did not believe women had or should have equal rights. Initially, he did not support Lucy’s dreams and made her financially support her own education. She began working as a teacher and saved enough money to support her own college education. She first enrolled at Mount Holyoke, a female seminary, then later Oberlin College in Ohio. Oberlin was the first college to accept women and African Americans. Lucy became the first woman from Massachusetts to earn a college degree, although Massachusetts did not offer a college accepting women and she had to gain her education from another state.

After graduation, Lucy began a career as an orator. She was able to obtain a job with the American Anti-Slavery Society, with the help of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. She traveled the country giving speeches on abolitionism, but in her free time she spoke on various issues regarding women’s rights. She worked with many leading women and helped organize the first national women’s rights convention in Worcester, Massachusetts.  She later published The Women’s Journal, a newspaper dealing with many of the women’s rights issues.

Lucy lived what she believed in and caused uproar by doing so. When asked to write a commencement speech when graduating, she refused because a man would read it instead of her. Even though Oberlin was progressive, they still did not allow women to participate in public exercises with men. When she married her husband, she left out the word obey from her vows and kept her maiden name. She is the first woman in the country to do so and the term “Lucy Stoner” is used when referring to married women who kept their name. She was excommunicated from her church when she disagreed with the Greek and Latin translations of the Bible, claiming they were wrong which caused the negativity towards women. Lastly, she refused to pay property taxes due to “no taxation without representation.” Lucy Stone was a strong proponent for equality. 

By: Jessica McKenzie 

Credits and Sources:

Galindo, Adriene. “Lucy Stone.” Boston Athenaeum. Last modified May 2016. Accessed September 12, 2016. http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/library/book-recommendations/athenaeum-authors/lucy-stone

National Women’s Hall of Fame. “Lucy Stone.” National Women’s Hall of Fame. Accessed September 12, 2016. https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/lucy-stone/

National Women’s History Museum. “Lucy Stone (1818-1893).” National Women’s History Museum. Accessed September 12, 2016. https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/lucy-stone/

State House Women’s Leadership Project. “The Honorees.” Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. Accessed September 12, 2016. http://masshumanities.org/programs/shwlp/honorees/#ruffin