The youngest of seven children born in Medford, MA, to an abolitionist family, Lydia Maria Child spent her life advocating for the rights of slaves and women.

Given the title “The First Lady of the Republic” by admirers including abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, Child’s writings dispelled ideas that African-Americans were a lower class. Her book An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans, advocated education for African-Americans and has often been cited as the first anti-slavery publication. She joined the American Anti-Slavery Society and she and her husband edited the National Anti-Slavery Standard from 1841-1844.

Child was also a founding member of the Massachusetts Women’s Suffrage Association and authored The History of the Conditions of Women in Various Ages and Nations, a publication that went on to influence the next generation of suffragists.

In addition to her activist work, Child also founded the country’s first children’s magazine, Juvenile Miscellany, and wrote many volumes dedicated to domestic endeavors.

Additional Resources:
Clifford, Deborah Pickman. Crusader for Freedom: A life of Lydia Maria Child. Beacon Press, 1992.

Karcher, Carolyn L. The First women in the Republic: A Cultural Biography of Lydia Maria Child. Duke University Press, 1955.

Kenschaft, Lori J. Lydia Maria Child. Oxford University Press, Inc. 2002.

Hobomok. Piscataway, New Jersey: Rutger's University Press, 1986. [First printed in 1824.]

The Mother's Book. New York: Applewood Books, 1831.

An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans called Africans. Boston: Allen and Ticknor, 1833.

The Girl's Own Book. New York: Applewood Books, 1834.

Letters from New York . New York: C.S. Francis & Co., 1845.

Letters 1836-1878, 1 box. Letters 184-1880, 57 items. Radcliffe Colleg, The Authur & Elizabeth Schlesinger LIbrary on the History of Women in America. Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Papers 1836-1894, 84 items. University od Michigan, William L. Clements Library. Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Papers 1829-1879, 35 items. Columbia University, University Libraries, Butler Library. New York, New York.

Papers 1850-1877 and undated, 26 items. University of Virginia, Alderman Library, Special Collections. Charlottesville, Virginia.