Lydia Maria Child — abolitionist, social reformer, and writer
- Creator(s):
- Child, Lydia Maria
- Title:
- An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans
- Publication/Origin:
- Boston: Allen and Ticknor, 1833
- Description:
- Lydia Maria Child was one of the most influential writers and reformers in the nineteenth century. Her first novel, Hobomok, about an interracial marriage between a white woman and a Native American, shocked reviewers but was extremely successful. Her Frugal Housewife was the first American cookery book written for a non-aristocratic readership. She published the first juvenile magazine in America and edited the National Anti-Slavery Standard. When she published An Appeal, her literary standing and her income both dropped sharply. Her comprehensive scholarly analysis of the slavery question included a sweeping indictment of racism.
- Citation:
- Child, Lydia Maria, An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans, Boston: Allen and Ticknor, 1833, Lisa Unger Baskin Collection, Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Accessed January 20, 2026, https://exhibits.library.duke.edu/exhibits/show/baskin/item/4117