Mary Birdsall
Mary Birdsall | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1828 |
| Died | 1894 (aged 65–66) |
| Known for | Suffragist |
| Spouse | Thomas Birdsall |
Mary Birdsall or Mary Thistlethwaite (1828–1894) was a leading campaigner for women's rights in Indiana. She was the owner of The Lily, a newspaper for women.
Life
Mary Thistlethwaite was born in 1828 in Cincinnati where her father was a butcher. Her father was born in Leeds and he had married Elizabeth Wetherall and they already had a son who had been born in Wilmington, Delaware where her father had been a farmer for several years. Her father moved to Richmond in Indiana where he amassed a considerable amount of agricultural land around the new town of Richmond.[1]
When she was 19 she married Thomas Birdsall and they both worked together to forward their radical views on temperance and women's rights. Thomas was known to her family as he had worked in her family's mills.[1]
In 1852 the first Indiana Women's Rights Convention was held in Thomas and Mary's home town of Richmond. Birdsall was elected as secretary not only that year but also the following year when the convention returned to Richmond.[2] The first newspaper created for and by women was, The Lily. The newspaper had increased its circulation considerably. Part of this was due to Bloomer's mission to forward the novel divided leg clothing for women which were known as "Bloomers" that had become associated with her.[3] Amelia Bloomer was moving and wanted the newspaper to continue. Birdsall had been a major contributor to the Indiana Farmer and in particular its women section. Birdsall bought the paper in 1854 and continued to use Bloomer as a corresponding editor.[3] The newspaper provided a way for her to campaign on the issues they found important. The newspaper continued to campaign for women's issues and temperance. One source says it was published in Richmond for five years and was distributed nationally.[1] Another source says that the last issue of The Lily was on 15 December 1856. This source says that Bloomer remained a contributor to the end.[4]
Birdsall and Thomas continued their political campaigning and they are said to be the first women to speak to the Indiana legislature. Their speeches were titled the "Women's Rights Petition" but were informally described as a "jollification". Both should have been printed in the State Journal but the journal only printed Thomas's speech and blamed lack of space for not including Birdsall's speech.[5]
Birdsall died in Philadelphia in 1894 and her body was returned for burial in Richmond.[1]
Legacy
Birdsall's house is now owned by Earlham College and it is on the National Register of Historic places. In 2007 a plaque was placed in the garden to commemorate Birdsall's life.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d Mary Birdsall House, Register of Historic Places application form, retrieved 11 March 2014
- ^ bios
- ^ a b "Amelia Bloomer". National Parks Service. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
- ^ Lily, University of Michigan, retrieved 16 March 2014
- ^ The Radical Women's Press of the 1850's Radical Women's Press of the 1850's. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. 2013. p. 292. ISBN 1135034060.
- ^ Indiana State Society, retrieved 16 March 2014