Abolition
Throughout her life, Lucy Stone constantly fought for equal rights for all regardless of race, even when these opinions were a minority in the United States. Stone’s abolitionist work began as early as her days at Oberlin. A station for the Underground Railroad, the school supported many anti-slavery acts. As fugitive slaves began to settle at Oberlin, Stone became their teacher, helping them learn to read and write, despite significant hesitation from many of the freed slaves over having a female teacher.1 That being said, she eventually formed close bonds with many of these students and shared their horrific stories during lectures throughout her life to call upon the compassion of her audience members. While the schedule of teaching freed slaves became too much for her to balance with her own undergraduate classes at Oberlin, it did inspire her to continue speaking on anti-slavery as a public lecturer after graduating from Oberlin.2 Lucy Stone would go on to become one of the most prominent abolitionist lecturers in the United States.
Stone worked with many anti-slavery organizations, the American Anti-Slavery Society being one of the most notable. She was also featured in many abolitionist newspapers, such as The Liberator, whose May 27, 1853 issue transcribed a speech Stone delivered at the 19th Annual Meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Speaking out against president Franklin Pierce and the Fugitive Slave Law––a law that required slave escapees to be returned to their owner––Stone exclaimed “Men, fathers, Democrats! how could you do it? You, who are proud to take your own little boys and girls on your knees, and know that you are backed and protected by law which is strong enough to guard you in any emergency, when you knew that millions of fathers and mothers who have no protection are hunted like partridges on the mountain, how could you do it?”3 It was a very bold move for a woman to openly critique the president of the United States, and Stone did it without hesitation. While women may not have had the right to vote yet, Stone did her best to try and influence the men who could vote: in this case, expressing extreme disappointment over who they chose to vote for. As Stone describes, white people should have known their privilege, even if they couldn’t fully understand the fear that runaway slaves experienced after fleeing from their owner. Later in the same speech, she questions “Will not your children’s children find their cheeks tingling with shame at the remembrance of the deeds their fathers have done?”4 Stone was so dedicated to the cause that she had no problem shaming people for their harmful actions. Her mind was on future generations, which she knew would evolve and eventually denounce slavery.
For Stone, abolition and women’s rights were very intertwined: she often couldn’t lecture on one without mentioning the other. As she commented on the progress of women’s rights in one of her last public speeches, she explained how abolition opened the door for women such as herself to get involved with politics, stating “The idea of equal rights was in the air. The wail of the slave, his clanking fetters, his utter need, appealed to everybody. Women heard.”5 While Stone believed abolition and women’s rights were inseparable, many disagreed with her. This caused some trouble for her as an anti-slavery speaker when one of her friends in the Anti-Slavery Society complained that a speech on abolition focused far too much on women’s rights. Stone retorted “I know it, but I could not help it. I was a woman before I was an abolitionist, and I must speak for women.”6 Although she tried to resign as a lecturer for the Anti-Slavery Society to focus more exclusively on women’s rights, Stone was so valued as a public abolitionist speaker that the organization convinced her not to quit entirely and to merely reduce her hours: they weren’t willing to give her up if they could help it. As she grew older, her work did shift to place more emphasis on women’s rights, but abolition remained important to her throughout her life.
One way in which Stone continued to support both causes was when she co-founded the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) in 1866. According to Article II of their constitution, the goal of the association was to “secure Equal Rights to all American citizens, especially the right of suffrage, irrespective of race, color, or sex.”7 The right to vote was the main focus of the organization, with some disagreements over who should take precedence––women or people of color. Stone was among the people who believed black men should attain the right to vote before women, and this translated into her anti-slavery lectures. Speaking in an address in 1867, Stone claimed “Slavery smothered the spirit of liberty.”8 It could be that Stone believed women, while discriminated against, didn’t face the same level of hardship as slaves who often literally feared for their life with cruel owners. Thus, while she still firmly believed that women deserved suffrage rights, it didn’t matter to her if they had to wait a little longer.
Created by Amanda Schadler
1 Stone Blackwell, Alice. “Lucy Stone.” The Woman’s Journal. April 15, 1893. https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:49673168$121i.
2 McMillen, Sally G. “Oberlin Collegiate Institute .” Essay. In Lucy Stone: An Unapologetic Life, (New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 60.
3 Stone, Lucy. “Speech of Miss Lucy Stone.” Transcribed by William Henry Burr. The Liberator. (Boston, MA: William Lloyd Garrison, May 27, 1853). https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84031524/1853-05-27/ed-1/?sp=1.
4 Stone, Lucy. “Speech of Miss Lucy Stone.” Transcribed by William Henry Burr. The Liberator. (Boston, MA: William Lloyd Garrison, MAy 27, 1853). https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84031524/1853-05-27/ed-1/?sp=1.
5 Stone, Lucy. “The Progress of Fifty Years.” In The Congress of Women: Held in the Woman’s Building, World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, U.S.A., 1893: With Portraits, Biographies, and Addresses, edited by Mary Kavanaugh Oldham Eagle, (Chicago, IL: Monarch Book Co., 1894), 58-59. https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/women-working-1800-1930/catalog/45-990092198840203941.
6 Stone Blackwell, Alice. “Lucy Stone.” The Woman’s Journal. April 15, 1893. https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:49673168$121i.
7 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. “Address in Favor of Universal Suffrage, for the Election of Delegates to the Constitutional Convention.” (Albany, NY: Weed, Parsons, and Company, 1867). https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044013635727&seq=9.
8 Stone, Lucy. “Woman Suffrage in New Jersey.” (Boston, MA: C.H. Simonds & Co., March 6, 1867). https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044013635727&seq=9.
