top of page

Who is Lucy Stone?

Lucy Stone was an influential abolitionist and suffragist fighting for both racial and gender equality. As a committed feminist, she announced at her own wedding that she was rejecting the current marital laws making the husband superior to the wife and that she would also be keeping her last name. Her efforts towards gender equality would eventually lead her to organizing the first national Women’s Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1850. Stone later diverged from other pioneers in the women’s suffrage movement over tensions concerning the 15th Amendment, which allowed men of all races to vote, but still not women. As a member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Stone supported the 15th Amendment and eventually formed the American Women’s Suffrage Association (AWSA) that supported suffrage for all regardless of race and gender.

“I expect to plead not for the slave only, but for the suffering humanity everywhere. Especially do I mean to labor for the elevation of my sex.”

Lucy Stone

Portrait of Lucy Stone, circa 1860s. (Photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images).

bottom of page