Why You Need To Know About Lucy Stone

A remarkable woman, who fought for women's rights and was a prominent figure in the anti-slavery movement in America in the early Nineteenth century. If you call yourself a feminist, Lucy Stone is probably the reason why women can openly talk about equal rights and suffrage today. Born on this very day in 1818, in West Brookfield, Massachusetts, her ideas and opinions were always geared towards providing women with equal rights.

Here are some things to know about her: 

• She became the first woman to earn a degree in Massachusetts.
• At a time when women were discouraged from participating in public speaking, she spoke about women's rights and anti-slavery publicly across different cities of America.
• She helped in the establishment of the National Women's Rights Convention and also the Woman's National Loyal League, their efforts led to the abolishment of slavery in the 13th Amendment in the Constitution of America.

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• She was actively involved in the established of the American Woman Suffrage Association. They fought for voting rights for women.
• She even voted for the 15th Amendment that allowed African Americans to cast a vote, in the hopes that women too will get voting rights.
• She petitioned for women to get voting rights and for women to get a place to serve in the public office (government positions).
• Along with her husband, Henry Browne Blackwell, Lucy started a weekly journal called, 'Woman's Journal', that talked about women's issues.
• Lucy Stone took her husband's name when they got married, but after a year went back to her maiden name and Henry Browne Blackwell supported her decision.

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She was courageous and strong-headed, who had ideas to change the world for the women. Her husband too had similar point of views and matched the energy of Stone just as well. He was a committed abolitionist, working towards freeing the African and Indian slaves. Lucy Stone's timeline was filled with political movements, discussions, debates, lectures, speeches that would encourage people to realise the importance of equality. She unfortunately did not live to see women finally get voting rights in 1920 in United States of America but did live to see the abolishment of slavery.

Feature Image Courtesy: womenshistory.about.com