Lucy Stone: Speaking Out for Equality [Paperback]

Andrea Moore Kerr (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stone, a dedicated, pioneering 19th-century suffragist, is zealously championed in this biography, which seeks to bring her out from the shadow cast by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. After working her way through Oberlin College, then a "hotbed of abolitionism," Stone became a paid lecturer for an anti-slavery society, sometimes addressing as many as two thousand people. Soon her interests--and her speeches--shifted to women's suffrage. She continued to tour (and kept her surname) after her marriage to Henry Browne Blackwell. Although Blackwell, as depicted here, was an annoying and financially incompetent man with a dash of charm, Stone was devoted to him and wanted him to stay out of the Civil War "at any price." But feminists became divided among themselves. When women's interest in obtaining the vote flagged in the 1870s, Stone blamed Stanton and Anthony; she found Stanton brilliant, but "disingenuous and damaging," while Anthony's dislike of Stone became almost "an obsession." Although this study lacks narrative fluidity, historian Kerr offers readers much to ponder regarding Stone's place in women's history. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Kerr, who holds a Ph.D. in American Studies, has written an excellent biography and the first scholarly treatment of Stone, one of the first female public speakers and advocates for abolition and women's rights. Alice S. Blackwell's biography of her mother is out of print, and Elinor Hays's Morning Star (Hippocrene, 1978. reprint of 1961 ed.) is aimed at a popular audience. Kerr utilized manuscript collections, including the Blackwell family papers; printed primary sources; and secondary sources to create a compelling story. She sensitively treats Stone's marriage and the compromises it forced on her. Her analysis, from Stone's point of view, of the split in the women's movement is particularly interesting. Highly recommended for all academic and large public libraries.
- Sharon Firestone, Coll. of Law Lib. , Arizona State Univ. Tempe
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (December 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813518601
• ISBN-13: 978-0813518602
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,316,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Susan B. Anthony & Elizabeth Cady Stanton get more press..., March 31, 2003

By 

Corinne H. Smith (Athol, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Lucy Stone: Speaking Out for Equality (Paperback)

...but they and the entire women's rights movement owe a great deal to Lucy Stone (1818-1893). This extensive biography profiles the woman who makes her way from a farm in central Massachusetts to Oberlin College (the only institution admitting women and blacks at the time), and then on to the lecture circuit and the issues of anti-slavery and suffrage. A fiercely-independent woman who vows never to marry, she fends off and is simultaneously intrigued by romantic advances made to her by Henry Blackwell, the Ralph Kramden of his day. They marry in 1855. Lucy continues her speaking tours, eventually takes care of daughter Alice, publishes the Women's Journal, and finances all of Henry's ill-fated get-rich-quick schemes. Intertwined with the details of her personal life are her relationships with the key people in both movements (Anthony, Stanton, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison) and the splits with leaders of both. Thanks to many pieces of archived correspondence, we can know the reasons for the rift among suffrage leaders, the division into separate organizations, and their reunion many years later. A fascinating must-read for feminists of all dimensions.