Suffragist of the Month – August

Lucy Stone

August 13, 1818

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Lucy Stone represented women active in the early days of the suffrage battle. Born in West Brookfield, MA, in 1818, she first worked for abolition, and later for suffrage. A colleague of both Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she worked with them at the National Woman Suffrage Association, but later parted ways with them and formed the rival American Woman Suffrage Association. The women were finally reunited in 1890 with the formation of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She was also close friends with Louisine Havermeyer of Long Island.

Lucy Stone had a fierce desire for an education, and after many years of struggle finally graduated from Oberlin College, becoming the first women in Massachusetts to earn a Bachelor’s degree. Despite her laudable work for suffrage and women’s rights, she is probably best remembered for her refusal to take her husband Henry Blackwell’s name after marriage, retaining her maiden name, and prompting women who followed her lead to be called “Lucy Stoners.” She died in 1893.

Happy Birthday, Lucy Stone!

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