Life span: 02/11/1802 to 10/20/1880TabsLife SummaryFull name: Lydia Maria Francis ChildPlace of Birth: Medford, MABurial Place: Wayland, MABirth Date Certainty: ExactDeath Date Certainty: ExactGender: FemaleRace: WhiteSectional choice: NorthOrigins: Free StateNo. of Siblings: 6No. of Spouses: 1No. of Children: 0Family: David Convers Francis (father), Susannah Rand (mother), Convers Francis (brother), Mary Francis Preston (sister), David Lee Child (husband, 1828)Occupation: JournalistWriter or ArtistRelation to Slavery: White non-slaveholderChurch or Religious Denomination: Unitarian or UniversalistOther Affiliations: Abolitionists (Anti-Slavery Society)Women’s RightsOtherOther Affiliation: Native American Rights Note Cards Lydia Maria Francis Child (American National Biography) ScholarshipChild continued to demand equal treatment for blacks, and so in 1861 she willingly edited former slave Harriet Jacobs's novel Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. She followed this in 1865 with The Freedmen's Book, a collection of short poems, biographical sketches, and essays created with the hope of inculcating pride in newly freed blacks. Aspirations of the World: A Chain of Opals, the final anthology of her work, was published in 1878, two years before her death in Wayland. Although best known for her antislavery writings, Child evinced an interest in all areas of social reform. Throughout her long career she commented on such issues as Indian rights, equal rights for women, educational reform, and religious toleration. She sacrificed a burgeoning national career in the 1830s by remaining true to her own conscience and becoming one of the first Americans to speak out against the institution of slavery. Catherine Teets- Parzynski, "Child, Lydia Maria Francis," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/15/15-00127.html. Events Major TopicsHarpers Ferry Raid Documents Author Docs Date Title 10/26/1859 Lydia Maria Child to Henry Alexander Wise, October 26, 1859 10/26/1859 Lydia Maria Child to John Brown, October 26, 1859 Subject Docs Date Title 11/17/1859 Carlisle (PA) American Volunteer, "Gov. Wise to Mrs. Child," November 17, 1859 03/26/1860 William Wilkins to James Watson Webb, March 26, 1860 Addressee Docs Date Title 11/11/1859 Eliza Margaretta Chew Mason to Lydia Maria Child, November 11, 1859 Images Lydia Maria Francis Child Lydia Maria Francis Child, detail Lydia Maria Francis Child, circa 1865 Lydia Maria Francis Child, circa 1865, detail Bibliography Chicago Style Entry Link Osborne, William S. Lydia Maria Child. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980. View Record Child, Lydia Maria Francis, Milton Meltzer, Patricia G. Holland, and Francine Krasno. Lydia Maria Child, Selected Papers, 1817-1880. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1982. View Record Clifford, Deborah Pickman. Crusader for Freedom: A Life of Lydia Maria Child. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992. View Record Karcher, Carolyn L. The First Woman in the Republic: A Cultural Biography of Lydia Maria Child. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1994. View Record Meltzer, Milton. Tongue of Flame: The Life of Lydia Maria Child. New York: Crowell, 1965. View Record Child, Lydia Maria Francis. The Freedmen's Book. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1865. View Record Child, Lydia Maria Francis. Aspirations of the World: A Chain of Opals. Boston: Roberts Bros., 1878. View Record Child, Lydia Maria Francis. The Rebels; or, Boston before the Revolution. Boston: Cummings, Hilliard, and Co., 1825. View Record Child, Lydia Maria Francis and Carolyn L. Karcher. An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1996. View Record Child, Lydia Maria Francis, Angelina Emily Grimké, and Grace Douglas. An Appeal to the Women of the Nominally Free States. 2nd ed. Boston: I. Knapp, 1838. View Record
Lydia Maria Francis Child (American National Biography) ScholarshipChild continued to demand equal treatment for blacks, and so in 1861 she willingly edited former slave Harriet Jacobs's novel Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. She followed this in 1865 with The Freedmen's Book, a collection of short poems, biographical sketches, and essays created with the hope of inculcating pride in newly freed blacks. Aspirations of the World: A Chain of Opals, the final anthology of her work, was published in 1878, two years before her death in Wayland. Although best known for her antislavery writings, Child evinced an interest in all areas of social reform. Throughout her long career she commented on such issues as Indian rights, equal rights for women, educational reform, and religious toleration. She sacrificed a burgeoning national career in the 1830s by remaining true to her own conscience and becoming one of the first Americans to speak out against the institution of slavery. Catherine Teets- Parzynski, "Child, Lydia Maria Francis," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/15/15-00127.html.
