Lucy Stone

Lucy Stone was an early advocate of antislavery and women's rights, and she was the first woman in Massachusetts to earn a college degree and the first woman in the United States to keep her own name after marriage.

Civil Rights Figure

August 13, 1818

October 18, 1893

75

Lucy Stone (1818-1893) was a prominent American activist for women’s rights and abolition during the late 19th century. As the first woman in Massachusetts to obtain a college degree and the first in the United States to retain her maiden name after marriage, she broke significant barriers for women. Stone co-founded and edited “The Woman’s Journal,” the first national newspaper dedicated to women’s rights, and played a crucial role in establishing the American Women’s Suffrage Association, where she served as president. Among her notable works are “Speech on the Anniversary of the Massachusetts State Kansas Committee,” “A Disappointed Woman,” “Wendell Phillips before the Concord Lyceum,” “A Matter of Self-Defense,” and “Petition for Universal Suffrage.”

In addition to her work in women’s rights, Stone was an early advocate for the abolition of slavery, working as a paid agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. She played a key role in organizing the first national American women’s rights convention in Worcester, Massachusetts, and co-founded the American Equal Rights Association, where she served on the executive committee. Stone also helped establish the Woman’s National Loyal League, which contributed to the abolition of slavery. Her daughter, Alice Stone Blackwell, continued her legacy as a prominent women’s rights activist and writer.