Henry Browne Blackwell
Henry Browne Blackwell or sometimes Henry Brown Blackwell (May 4, 1825 – September 7, 1909) was an American advocate for social and economic reform. He was one of the founders of the Republican Party and the American Woman Suffrage Association. He published Woman's Journal starting in 1870 in Boston, Massachusetts with Lucy Stone.[1][2][3][4]
Birth
He was born in Bristol, England, the son of sugar refiner Samuel Blackwell. The father moved his family to the United States in 1832, first living in New York City, and later in New Jersey. The father's interest in social reform was passed on to his children. As a child he was taught to treat people as equals in race, sex, and social class.
Family
- Samuel Charles Blackwell, was the husband of Antoinette Brown, the first woman ordained in a recognized church in the United States, and also a prominent speaker in the abolitionist and women's suffrage movements.
- Elizabeth Blackwell, was the first female graduate of a medical school in the United States and the first to practice medicine.
- Emily Blackwell was the third woman to receive a U.S. medical degree.
The Blackwells moved to the United states from England in 1832 after a fire destroyed the family business. Their sugar business suffered in the U.S. until it was destroyed completely in 1837 by financial panic. After their move to New York the family became very involved in the anti-slavery movement. They opened their home as a refuge for the abolitionists. In 1837, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to start over. Not long after, Henry's father died and the family plunged into a financial crisis. Henry’s mother and sisters opened a day school for girls to support the family financially. Henry and his brother found office jobs until the opening of their own hardware business.
Advocacy
Blackwell decided to devote his life to women's rights when he saw his sister struggling to become the first female doctor in the United States. One of his first acts as an advocate of women’s rights was to write southern legislative bodies proposing the extension of women’s suffrage.[5]
Marriage
Blackwell married Lucy Stone on May 1, 1855 after a two-year courtship. In support of women's rights, Blackwell decided that he would publicly renounce all non-mutual rights given legally to the husband in a marriage. At the wedding, the couple read out a "Marriage Protest" that they had written together. In the same vein, and contrary to common practice, Stone continued to use her own name after marriage.
Death
Blackwell died of inflammation of the bowels in 1909.[2][6]
Legacy
Alice Stone Blackwell, the daughter of Blackwell and Lucy Stone, helped her parents in editing the Woman's Journal; she became another leader for women's rights as well as for the Temperance movement and Prohibition.[7]
Timeline
- 1825, May 4 Born, Bristol, England
- 1832 Emigrated with his family to the United States
- 1853 Made his first speech for woman suffrage at convention in Cleveland, Ohio
- 1855, May 1 Married Lucy Stone, and on the same day published with her a joint protest against the inequalities of the marriage law
- 1855-1868 Engaged in bookselling, sugar refining, and real estate
- 1869-1901 Chiefly engaged in work for the American Woman Suffrage Association (after 1890, the National American Woman Suffrage Association)
- 1872-1893 Coeditor, Woman's Journal
- 1893-1909 Editor, Woman's Journal
- 1909, September 7 Died, Dorchester, Mass.
Archive
Writings
References
- ^ "Henry B. Blackwell's plans". The Boston Globe. September 12, 1909. "Bimetallism on a Gold Standard His Solution of Currency Question. Henry B. Blackwell has written a letter putting forward this plan of financial reform. He says: ..."
- ^ a b "Dr. Henry B. Blackwell.". New York Times. September 8, 1909, Wednesday.
- ^ "Jersey Women Voted in 1776. Used Ballot Till 1807, When Democrats Abolished It, H. B. Blackwell Says.". New York Times. March 7, 1909, Wednesday. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9904E6DB1539E733A25754C0A9659C946897D6CF. Retrieved 2007-06-21. "Henry B. Blackwell, the venerable advocate of equal suffrage, and husband of the late Lucy Stone Blackwell, has written to Mrs. Alexander Christie, President of the Woman's Political Study Club of Bayonne, recounting some interesting researches he has made of the early struggles of women for the ballot. He says that the time of the Revolution women in New Jersey had the right to vote, but later, by various enactments, they were disfranchised."
- ^ Blackwell, Henry Brown (October 20, 1877). "The Lesson of Colorado". Woman's Journal. http://womhist.alexanderstreet.com/colosuff/doc7.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
- ^ Moran, Karen Board. March 26, 2005, Henry Brown Blackwell (1825-1909)
- ^ "Simple Tribute to his Memory". The Boston Globe. September 12, 1909. "Services for Henry B. Blackwell. Conducted by Rev Borden P. Bowne at Forest Hills. Ashes Will Rest in Urn With Those of his Wife."
- ^ "Alice Blackwell, Noted Suffragist; Daughter Of Lucy Stone And Abolitionist Leader Dies. Editor, Author Was 92.". New York Times. March 16, 1950, Thursday. "Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 15, 1950 (AP) Alice Stone Blackwell, internationally known women's suffrage leader, died tonight at her home after a week's illness. Her age was 92."
| Persondata |
| Name |
Blackwell, Henry Browne |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
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| Date of birth |
May 4, 1825 |
| Place of birth |
Bristol, England |
| Date of death |
September 7, 1909 |
| Place of death |
Dorchester, Massachusetts |