Child, Lydia Maria, 1802-1880
Name Entries
person
Child, Lydia Maria, 1802-1880
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Surname :
Child
Forename :
Lydia Maria
Date :
1802-1880
eng
Latn
authorizedForm
rda
Child, Lydia Maria Francis, 1802-1880
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Forename :
Lydia Maria Francis
Date :
1802-1880
eng
Latn
alternativeForm
rda
Child, David Lee, Mrs., 1802-1880
Computed Name Heading
Name Components
Surname :
Child
Forename :
David Lee
NameAddition :
Mrs.
Date :
1802-1880
eng
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Biographical History
Lydia Maria Child was born Lydia Maria Francis in Medford, Massachusetts on February 11, 1802. She was born into an abolitionist family and was greatly influenced by her brother, Convers, who would later become a Unitarian Clergyman. After the death of her mother in 1814, Child moved to Maine to live with her sister and began teaching in Gardiner in 1819. While living in Maine, Child became increasingly interested in Native Americans and visited many nearby settlements. Child began actively writing shortly after returning to Massachusetts to live with her brother. She published her first novel, Hobomok, in 1824, at the age of 22. The story depicted the relationship between a girl from New England and a Native American. Although the book was published anonymously, Child would later gain fame as the author of Hobomok, the first American historical novel.
Child continued to have a vibrant writing career throughout her life; she was the pioneer of many writing forms, such as historical fiction, children's literature, and women's literature. In 1826, she founded Juvenile Miscellany, the first children's periodical in the United States; she published The American Frugal Housewife in 1844. Child published her first anti-slavery book in 1833, An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans We Call Africans, arguing for full, uncompensated emancipation of slavery and full racial equality.
Following her marriage to journalist and fellow abolitionist, David Lee Child, in 1828, Child and her husband became acquainted with William Lloyd Garrison, who greatly influenced their devotion to abolitionism. With her husband, Child established the National Anti-Slavery Standard, the official weekly newspaper of the American Anti-Slavery Society, in 1840. Among her many abolitionist efforts, Child transcribed recollections of freed slaves and edited Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861). Public reactions to her actions were frequently negative, but Child continued with her endeavors against slavery and also supported both women's rights and Native American rights throughout her life. Child died in 1880, at age 78, in her home in Wayland, Massachusetts.
Child is well known for her poem Over the River and Through the Wood.
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Latn
External Related CPF
https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n80001490
https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n80001490
https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q443132
https://viaf.org/viaf/285556743
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Languages Used
eng
Zyyy
Subjects
American literature
American literature
Musicians
Slavery
Abolitionists
Abolitionists
Abolitionists
African Americans
Authors, American
Authors, American
Women authors, American
Antisemitism
Antislavery movements
Antislavery movements
Applications for positions
Children's literature
Families
Family records
Governesses
Marriage
Traditional medicine
Music
Music appreciation
Prejudices
Race relations
Slavery in literature
Voyages and travels
Women
Women
Women
Women abolitionists
Women abolitionists
Women authors, American - 19th century
Nationalities
Americans
Activities
Occupations
Abolitionists
Authors
Women authors
Social reformers
Legal Statuses
Places
Medford
MA, US
AssociatedPlace
Birth
Wayland (Mass.)
MA, US
AssociatedPlace
Death
New York (N.Y.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
South Natick (Mass.)
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Massachusetts
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
U.S.
as recorded (not vetted)
AssociatedPlace
Convention Declarations
<conventionDeclaration><citation>VIAF</citation></conventionDeclaration>