Woman’s History Month: The Woman Who Risked Everything for Freedom

Welcome to Women’s History Month. Two decades before Susan B. Anthony took up the cause of women’s rights, Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was already writing courage into history.  Though not a Quaker like Susan, she believed that every person—no matter their color, creed, or gender—deserved to live in freedom. Her 1833 book, An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans, was the first of its kind in America: a full-length argument for the immediate end of slavery.

Lydia Maria Child, abolitionist author. Library of Congress

At the time, Lydia was well-known and well-loved. (See my earlier post on her lyrics for “Over the River and Through the Wood.”)  She founded the first children’s magazine, wrote popular household guides, and was a welcome guest in Boston’s literary circles. After meeting early abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, however, her work took on a different tone. She researched slavery intensely and then wrote a groundbreaking book that challenged all the assumptions and prejudices of her day on that controversial topic. She was among the first to treat the difficult position of female slaves in relation to their white masters.

When Lydia Maria Child’s Book Shook Boston

Once her 1833 book appeared, all that changed. Readers who had praised her stopped buying her work. Subscribers canceled their magazines in protest. Friends crossed the street to avoid her, and her prestigious literary club canceled her membership. Publishers voided her contracts and book sales fell, never to recover. In one terrible season, she lost nearly everything—income, reputation, and social standing—because she dared to tell the truth.

Still, she kept writing. She spoke out for people others ignored—enslaved men and women, Native Americans pushed from their lands, and co-founded the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association in 1870. She wrote with grace and conviction, never flinching from controversy. When John Brown endured imprisonment and a death sentence after his raid on Harpers Ferry, she even offered to nurse him, saying compassion was owed to every soul.

“I am bound to use my influence for the good of every member of the human family, without reference to complexion or condition.”
—Lydia Maria Child, An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans

By the end of her life, Lydia had published more than forty books and countless essays. Her courage cost her dearly, but she proved that words—steadfast and truthful—can outlast the scorn of a generation.

Want to read about more inspiring women? Have a look at these previous posts:

• Annie Osborn Anthony
• Clarina Nichols
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton
• Ida B. Wells Barnett
• Susan LaFlesche Picotte

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