final project write up

Lydia Maria Child is an abolitionist woman writer of the 19Th century. Her pieces of writing are a variety of pieces that she felt were important enough to write down for the world to hear. I know that I haven't experienced as many 19Th century writers as some, but I have never heard of her. I would argue that her writing should be examined in lit. classes. I don't know if she made a living writing. I would think that it would be quite a challenge to make a living writing when you are both an abolitionist writer and woman writer.

There are many different styles of writing that Child writes in. Look at this biography style piece. It is the story of a very determined woman who survived slavery.
http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/gcarr/19cUSWW/LB/CB.html

Now look at this very different piece. It is the account of a slaveholder who discovers that his slaves have a secret.
http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/gcarr/19cUSWW/LB/BS.html

Child didn't just write stories look at this poem. She dedicated it "TO THOSE MEN AND WOMEN, WHO WERE AVOWED ABOLITIONISTS."
http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/gcarr/19cUSWW/LB/Lines1.html

Now that you have seen a few pieces of her writing look at this site. It is a collection of short biographies of African American writers of the 19Th century. It is very interesting to look at all of them. While reading, think about how different their lives might have been from the lives of a white writer.
http://digital.nypl.org/schomburg/writers_aa19/biographies.html

I would consider all these people lost voices because no matter how amazing their writing was they were still looked at as "a woman" or "black." This would have made publishing their writing much more difficult. There are hundreds of amazing writers that have come out of the 19Th century. It is easy to get caught up in the more well known ones, but don't forget to look at the less known ones. For more lost voices browse around this site.
http://digital.nypl.org/schomburg/writers_aa19/