Lucy Stone
Lucy Stone was born on August 13, 1818 in West Brookfield, Massachusetts. Her parents expected her to do household chores, grow up, marry and do more household chores but she surprised them. Lucy Stone hated the way women were treated as second class citizens. She felt that the way her father ridiculed her when she wanted to continue her education was an injustice. She attended Oberlin at the age of twenty- five. She had to put herself through college by doing housework and teaching because her father would not support her in her studies. She was the first Massachusetts woman to earn a college degree and graduated with honors.
Lucy Stone did not think Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were approaching women's rights in the right manner. Lucy Stone taught that the only way to gain suffrage was to go state to state and have laws passed one at a time. Others felt differently and thought it was best to aim for a federal law to be passed. So Lucy Stone started the American Women's National Suffrage Association.
Lucy Stone held the first national convention for women's rights in 1850 at Worcester Massachusetts. She dedicated most of her life to the fight for women's rights. She, along with many others, took risks and crossed barriers to reach their goals. She refused to take her husband's name and kept her name and property. She started the first women's rights newspaper, "The Women's Journal".
Lucy Stone, like other major suffrage leaders, died before they saw women gain the right to vote. Her legacy was not lost though because in 1920 the 19th Amendment was added to the constitution. She is the perfect role model for many young girls today because she fought for what we take for granted.
Ratings (1-5) Lucy Stone's rating 3.