Lydia Maria Child

Lydia Maria Child (née Francis; February 11, 1802 – October 20, 1880) was an American abolitionist, women's rights activist, Native American rights activist, novelist, journalist, and opponent of American expansionism.

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Lydia Maria Child
An 1882 engraving of Child
Born	Lydia Francis February 11, 1802 Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	October 20, 1880(1880-10-20) (aged 78) Wayland, Massachusetts, U.S.
Resting place	North Cemetery Wayland, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Abolitionist activist novelist journalist
Literary movement	Abolitionist, feminism
Notable works	An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans "Over the River and Through the Wood" Hobomok, a Tale of Early Times.
Spouse	David Lee Child ​ ​ (m. 1828; died 1874)​
Relatives	Convers Francis (brother)
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Her journals, both fiction and domestic manuals, reached wide audiences from the 1820s through the 1850s. At times she shocked her audience as she tried to take on issues of both male dominance and white supremacy in some of her stories.

Despite these challenges, Child may be most remembered for her poem "Over the River and Through the Wood." Her grandparents' house, which she wrote about visiting, was restored by Tufts University in 1976 and stands near the Mystic River on South Street, in Medford, Massachusetts.