Lydia Maria Child

Unitarian writer (with Swedenborgian inclinations) Lydia Maria Child was born on this day in Medford, Massachusetts, in 1802.

Child was a popular writer and an independent scholar. Her 1829 household manual, the Frugal Housewife was a run away best seller. She also made a mark as a social justice activist advocating for women’s suffrage and Native Americans. She was editor of the journal the “National Anti-Slavery Standard” and in 1833 wrote An Appeal in Favor of That Class of American Called African. Being well ahead of the popular imagination in her fierce advocacy of human rights, she suffered considerable persecution, and for a time could not find a publisher.

Child was also an early advocate of religious tolerance, believing the world’s religions all had something to teach. It is perhaps difficult to comprehend how revolutionary this idea was in the middle of the nineteenth century. At the same time, while displaying a wide sympathy, her actual understanding of other religions was uneven. This should, I think, be understandable for a pioneer in the field of comparative religious studies.

In my essay “What is Unitarian Universalist Buddhism” I write “(I)n The Progress of Religious Ideas Through Successive Ages, written in 1855, the Unitarian writer Lydia Maria Child describes the Buddha as a “heavenly spirit,” a term most Buddhists would not choose. In her book, Child also describes “God,” “soul,” and “creation” as Buddhist concepts. In fact Buddhism denies or remains agnostic about these concepts. For many Transcendentalists and other sympathetic observers of this era, Buddhism was frequently a mirror in which they saw themselves reflected…”

Without a doubt, Lydia Maria Child is a genuine one off, a questing mind, and searching heart. And someone well worth remembering…