Lucretia Mott

Lucretia Mott
Lucretia Mott at the age of 49 (1842), at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Born	Lucretia Coffin (1793-01-03)January 3, 1793 Nantucket, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	November 11, 1880(1880-11-11) (aged 87) Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Abolitionist, suffragist, teacher
Spouse(s)	James Mott
Children	6
Parent(s)	Thomas Coffin Anna Folger
Relatives	Martha Coffin Wright (sister) Mayhew Folger (maternal uncle)

Lucretia Mott (née Coffin; January 3, 1793 – November 11, 1880) was an American Quaker, abolitionist, a women's rights activist, and a social reformer. She had formed the idea of reforming the position of women in society when she was amongst the women excluded from the World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840. In 1848 she was invited by Jane Hunt to a meeting that led to the first meeting about women's rights. Mott helped write the Declaration of Sentiments during the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention.

Her speaking abilities made her an important abolitionist, feminist, and reformer. When slavery was outlawed in 1865, she advocated giving Black Americans the right to vote. She remained a central figure in the abolition and suffrage movement until her death in 1880. As a Quaker preacher, Mott spoke from the divine light within.

Lucretia Coffin was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, the second child Anna Folger and Thomas Coffin. Through her mother, she was a descendent of Peter Folger and Mary Morrell Folger. Her cousin was Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, while other Folger relatives were Tories.

She was sent at the age of 13 to the Nine Partners School, located in Dutchess County, New York, which was run by the Society of Friends. There she became a teacher after graduation. Her interest in women's rights began when she discovered that male teachers at the school were significantly more than female staff. After her family moved to Philadelphia, she and James Mott, another teacher at Nine Partners, followed.