Lydia Maria Child

Abolitionist, Activist, Novelist, and Journalist

Lydia Maria Child (1802 – 1880) was an American abolitionist, women's rights activist, opponent of American expansionism, Indian rights activist, novelist, and journalist; perhaps best remembered for her poem, Over the River and Through the Woods. She believed that white women and slaves were both held in subjugation by white men and treated as property instead of individual human beings; and did not believe significant progress for women could be made until after the abolition of slavery.

Child made her opinion known that she did not care for all-female societies, but believed that women would be able to achieve more by working alongside men. She, along with many other female abolitionists, began campaigning for equal female membership in the American Anti-Slavery Society, a controversy which would later split the movement. Her 1833 book An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans argued in favor of the immediate emancipation of the slaves without compenstation to slaveholders, and she is thought to have been the first white person to have written a book in support of this policy. Throughout the 1860s, Child wrote several pamphlets on Indian rights. The most prominent, An Appeal for the Indians (1868), called upon government officials, as well as religious leaders, to bring justice to American Indians. Her presentation sparked Peter Cooper's interest in Indian issues, and led to the founding of the US Board of Indian Commissioners and the subsequent Peace Policy in the administration of Ulysses S. Grant. Lydia Maria Child died in 1880, at the age of 78, after a lifetime of fighting social injustice.

Over the River, and Through the Wood Flowers for Children, volume 2,  1844 By:  Lydia Maria Child

Over the river, and through the wood, To Grandmother's house we go; The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow. Over the river, and through the wood - Oh, how the wind does blow! It stings the toes and bites the nose As over the ground we go. Over the river, and through the wood, To have a first-rate play. Hear the bells ring, "Ting-a-ling-ding", Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day! Over the river, and through the wood Trot fast, my dapple-gray! Spring over the ground like a hunting-hound, For this is Thanksgiving Day. Over the river, and through the wood - And straight through the barnyard gate, We seem to go extremely slow, It is so hard to wait! Over the river, and through the wood - Now Grandmother's cap I spy! Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done? Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!

E-Mail Me

Canadian Women Home Page

Hats Off to the Heroines

Emily's Dolls Fashions

Uniquely Canadian Home Page

Victorian Canada Home Page