Quakers Honor Centenary of the
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Death of Lucretia Coffin Mott AS THIS YEAR is the 100th anniversary of the death of Lucretia Coffin Mott, May 10th has been chosen as the date to honor her as the out standing pioneer of the Equal Rights movement in America. In Philadelphia, the Lucretia Mott Centennial Coalition is planning a memorial banquet, calling on all women's and human rights groups, in particular, to join in the celebration on this day, and to honor Mrs. Mott in the course of the year. At the time of her death on November 11, 1880, at her residence in Philadelphia, Lucretia Mott was 87 years, 10 months and 8 days in age. She has outlived her contemporaries but her work would never be forgotten. In her life is reflected the spiritual growth of the equal rights movement in this country, and she was called the most venerated woman in America. Her statue is in the crypt of the U.S. Capitol, and the Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.) was named in her honor by another leader, Alice Paul. Born in Nantucket on January 3, 1793, the daughter of Captain Thomas Coffin and Anna (Folger) Coffin, her first home stood on the corner of Fair Street and a little lane leading to Pine Street, now called Lucretia Mott Lane. The location became the mansion of Capt. Obed Starbuck, now called the Ship's Inn. Her father subsequently built a dwelling next door to the south, at the corner of School Street, later the home of Captain Thaddeus C. Defriez, now the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Jelleme. It was in this house that Mrs. Coffin, during the prolonged absence of her husband on a whaling voyage, opened a small store in her front room where she conducted a business in dry goods. Lucretia remembered this experience as an introduction in mercantile affairs. At this time she attended a school down the little street. Captain Coffin went through a trying time in 1802 when his ship, the Trial, was captured by South American insurgents, and he lost his vessel and the cargo. Upon returning home he decided to move his family to Boston, where Lucretia, then eleven years of age, attended private schools. In 1806, the child was sent to Dutchess County, New York, to the Quaker School at Nine Partners. She remained here three years, and in her last year became an assistant teacher at the age of sixteen. Still seeking a business opportunity, her father moved his family to Philadelphia, where she met her husband, James Mott, and where they were married in 1811.
