Lucretia Mott – American Quaker

Lucretia Mott was an American Quaker, a pioneer feminist leader and radical abolitionist.
Lucretia Coffin Mott was born on January 3, 1793 in Nantucket, Massachusetts. At the age of 13, she was sent to a Quaker school in Poughkeepsie, New York. Later she worked there as a teacher. Her interest in women’s rights arose when she learned that the male teachers at her school had a salary three times higher than female teachers.
Lucretia married James Mott who worked as a teacher in the same school. The wedding took place on April 10, 1811. They had 6 children. The second child died at the age of two.
Like many Quakers, Mott opposed slavery. She refused to use products produced by slaves: sugar cane, cotton clothes and so on. In 1821, Mott became a Quaker minister. With the support of her husband she traveled a lot around the country.

Mott and other white and black women founded the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society.
In June 1840 Mott visited the World anti-slavery convention, held in London. Despite the fact that Mott was one of six female delegates, men voted against the participation of women even before the start of the Convention. However, not all men supported the exclusion of women from the members of the Convention.
Mott and activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton were friends and allies.
Inspired by the active debate in England and Scotland, Mott returned to the United States, where she continued abolitionist activity. She traveled with lectures all over the country, including the major cities of the North – New York and Boston.
In 1848, Mott and Stanton organized the Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York.
Theological views of Mott had a great influence on the Quakers, many of whom later shared her views, sometimes even without knowing it.
After the Civil War, Lucretia Mott was elected the first president of the American Equal Rights Association, fought for universal suffrage.
In 1864, Mott, along with several Quakers established College, located near Philadelphia, which remains one of the top liberal arts colleges of the United States.
When in 1865, slavery was abolished, Mott was in favor of granting blacks the right to vote. She also remained a central figure in the women’s movement until her death at the age of 87.
In 1866, Mott, Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone founded the American Association for Equality.
Lucretia was a pacifist. She was an opponent of the war with Mexico.
Lucretia Mott died of pneumonia on November 11, 1880.
Mott helped to write a declaration of independence for women. In 1983, she was posthumously inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.