Background
Lucy Stanton was born free, the only child of Margaret and Samuel Stanton.
Lucy Stanton was born free, the only child of Margaret and Samuel Stanton.
In addition to his work as an abolitionist, John Brown was also an advocate for African American education. Stanton attended the Cleveland Free School that Brown formed for African American children.
In 1846, after graduation, Stanton enrolled in, completing a Literary degree in the "Ladies" Literary Course" of study, which differed from the Bachelor of Arts offered to men in that it did not require foreign languages or higher mathematics. At Oberlin College, Stanton was very active in the Ladies" Literary Society, and was invited (and presented) a speech at her graduation entitled "A Plea for the Oppressed" which expressed her abolitionist sentiments.
This speech, in response to the Fugitive Slave Acting of 1850 which was about to take effect, urged the audience, particularly women, to put themselves in the place of the enslaved, to join the abolitionist cause, and to ultimately end Slavery in the United States.
Her speech was immensely well-received, and reprinted in publications like ""The Oberlin Evangelist"", the Oberlin College school newspaper, and ""The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States Politically Considered"".
Her passionate commitment to abolition especially connected her to her radical female predecessors, such as Angelina East. Grimké, who, as early as 1836, linked the abolition of slavery to the Christian duty of women. Stanton is noted as saying that John Brown would harbor as many as 13 runaway slaves in their house at any given time. Fresh out of school, Lucy Stanton began working as a principal at another free school in Cleveland.
On November 25, 1852, Stanton married William Howard Day, whom she had met at Oberlin College.
Following this marriage, Stanton worked both as a librarian, and then later as an editor in Cleveland"s first abolitionist newspaper, ""The Alienated American"". Stanton successfully received a divorce from him in 1872.
Following Day"s abandonment, Stanton worked as a seamstress in Cleveland, before continuing her activism. Her affiliation with the Cleveland Freedman Association led to her being sent first to Georgia (United States state) in 1866 and then to Mississippi, both to teach newly freed slaves.
While in Mississippi, Stanton met, and then in 1878 married, Levi Sessions.
Stanton died in Los Angeles, California on February 18, 1910 at the age of 78.
Lucy Stanton Day"s life story is, in countless ways, a testament to the many strong, resilient, and radical women that participated in the first wave of American feminism.