Lucretia Mott (1793–1880,) née Coffin, was an American abolitionist and feminist. A progressive Quaker minister, she was a highly motivated activist in the cause of abolition, women’s rights, and freedom of religion.
Born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, Mott was educated near Poughkeepsie, New York, where she later became a teacher. She first rose to distinction in 1817 as a speaker at Quaker meetings and became an active campaigner for temperance, peace, women’s rights, and the abolition of slavery.
Mott helped establish the American Anti-Slavery Society (1833) and was president of the Philadelphia women’s branch but was denied membership in the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. She also took an active part in the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women (1837.)
Mott was actively encouraged by her husband, James Mott. Under her influence, he left his commission business because of its association with slave-produced cotton, which he had distributed throughout the 1820s. She and her husband also opened their home to runaway slaves escaping via the Underground Railroad.
Mott wrote Discourse on Women (1850.) With Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mott organized the 1848 Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Lucretia Mott
We too often bind ourselves by authorities rather than by the truth.
—Lucretia Mott
Topics: Freedom, Truth
The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source.
—Lucretia Mott
Topics: Nation
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