Lucretia Mott
by Sierra Weintraub
Early Life
Lucretia Mott was born on January 03, 1793 in Nantucket, Massachusetts and grew up around the self-reliant women of the island. Then in 1804, her family moved to the mainland and became quakers. Quakers also valued women, so Mott grew up around strong, independent women, which influenced her later life. When she went to a quaker school in New York, she was shocked to learn that the male teachers were paid better than the female teachers. This was the first step in pushing her towards the women's rights movement.
"Learning, while at school, that the charge for the education of girls was the same as that for boys, and that, when they became teachers, women received only half as much as men for their services, the injustice of this distinction was so apparent."
~Lucretia Mott
Abolitionist First
Before Mott became involved in the women's rights movement, she was an abolitionist. Her and her husband made their house a stop on the underground railroad, so runaway slaves would have a place to stop, rest, and hide. In 1937, she founded the first antislavery society for women.
The Turning Point
In 1840, Mott attends the international anti-slavery convention in England with other women abolitionists and William Lloyd Garrison. However, when they arrived, the orthodox quakers and the english abolitionists refused to seat them. They had them sit in the gallery because they believed that the convention would be ridiculous if women participated.
Role in Women's Rights Movement
She was extremely insulted by the rejection at the anti-slavery convention, that she decided to join the women's rights movement. At the anti-slavery convention, she met Elizabeth Stanton and became quick friends, and they attended the first Woman's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York with her. During the civil war, she spoke on behalf of the 13th amendment. When a split in the women's rights movement emerged in 1860, she worked to mend it until her death on November 11, 1880 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
This is the postage stamp that commemorates the women's rights movement, and Lucretia Mott is pictured because she was a major figure in the movement.
Citations
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ImagesDetailsPage/ImagesDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Images&total=&currPage=1&query=&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=GALE%7CAAA000043056&view=docDisplay&documentId=GALE%7CPC4295804196&mode=view
http://bluebook.state.or.us/images/facts/scenic/suffrage/commstamp.jpg
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/l/lucretia_mott.html#UCbgC1pbL6hpQpZa.99