Lydia Maria Child, Abolitionist

Today is an important day in history, but I write this to honor not only the great MLK, but also a woman whose name you might not know - Lydia Maria Child.

Let me start at the beginning. I recently read an entire book about the history of onions. (Don’t. Ask. Why.) It included a few historical recipes, but one caught my attention. The author of the recipe was a woman who lived in the 1800’s and her name was Lydia Maria Child. I was curious as to whether she was related to the famous Chef Julia Child, so I did a little research.

No relation, but what I did discover about Lydia was that she was an amazing woman who made a difference. Yes, she was a brilliant writer and a poet – she wrote the poem “Over the River and Through the Woods” - but much more than that, she spent her life fighting for Women’s Rights, Native American Rights and African American Rights. Her contributions were so vital to the emancipation of Slaves that in 2007, she was inducted into the National Abolition Hall of Fame, in Peterboro, New York.

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King Jr. And an early Happy Birthday to Lydia Maria Child born on Feb 11, 1802.