Lydia Maria Child was an astonishing woman writer of the 19th century. She broke the mold of that time - women in the 19th century were not to be getting involved in political and social matters. Instead, they were to stick to what they knew (or all that they should know), which was how to take care of the household. Child not only wrote "novels, short stories, and poetry [...] but also anti-slavery tracts, appeals on behalf of Native American rights, and investigations on womens status and rights in the United States and around the world" (Mercer). Having a mind that would not rest if she failed to partake in her societies injustices, Child couldn't just stand by and watch them continue without a fight. She once said:
It is my mission to help in the breaking down of classes, and to make all men feel as if they were brethren of the same family, sharing the same rights, the same capabilities, and the same responsibilities. While my hand can hold a pen, I will use it to this end; and while my brain can earn a dollar, I will devote it to this end" (qtd. in Mercer).
Child's dedication and faith that she would make a difference is admirable and remarkable, especially because she was living in a time of so much progress, yet of so many problems such as oppression and racism. Her list of works is long, and she achieved so much in her lifetime. Her first work, Hobomok, was published in 1824, and as soon as the following year came around she had published another, The Rebels. "Like Hobomok it introduces the most prominent historical personages of its scene and time to the reader" (Duyckinck). In 1826 came the emergence of Child's monthly magazine, The Juvenile Miscellany, and after that came The Frugal Housewife, "a domestic self help book for the common woman" (Mercer).
Just four years later in 1831 she published The Mother's Book. Then, not only did Child publish The Girl's Book in 1832, but continued to publish Lives of Madame de Stael, Madame Roland, Lady Russell, and Madame Guyon in her two, self-edited volumes of the Ladies Library Family books series about the same time. Other works she published through this series were Biographies of Good Wives, and History of the Condition of Women in all Ages. The Coronal was published in 1833, along with An Appeal for that Class of Americana called Africans, "a vigorous work which created a great sensation [...] (but) the most elaborate and successful of the authors productions, [...] in close and artistic keeping with the classic age it portrays was Philothea, a classic romance from 1833" (Duyckinck). An Appeal for that Class of Americanas called Africans and The History of the Condition of Women of all Ages "were ground breaking investigations and provided the foundation for serious, informed debates regarding the Abolition Movement and the Womens Movement" (Mercer).
Along with becoming editors of the National Anti-Slavery Standard with her husband in 1841, Child also republished a series of letters for the Boston Courier in to two volumes of The Letters from New York, which "changed the face of feature writing in journalism" (Mercer). Later, in 1846, she published a collection of her magazine stories, Fact and Fiction.
So, not only did Child write to help adolescents and the housewives of America, but she also broke new ground in journalism, and wrote to exploit injustices and inequalities that effected African Americans and women. "Her incredible strength of will enabled her to survive as a noted author in spite of constant debt and ostracization by polite society for her stance on Abolition" (Mercer).
