19th Century Archives - Lighting the Way, Historic Women of the SouthCoast

Ruby Devol Finch

Westport’s Ruby Devol Finch (1804-1866), whose works can be found in the collections of Colonial Williamsburg and the American Folk Art Museum, is considered to be one of the most uniquely creative female American folk artists of her time.

Anna Murray Douglass

Anna Murray Douglass (c. 1813-1882), born in freedom in Maryland, secured funds for enslaved Frederick to escape to New York, where the couple would marry before moving to New Bedford.

Ida M. Eliot

Educator, author, and entomologist Ida Mitchell Eliot (1839-1923) taught throughout the United States, co-edited the much-celebrated Poetry for Home and School in 1877, and co-authored one of the first books on caterpillars and moths in 1902.

Alberta Simmons Brownell

Alberta Simmons Brownell (1882-1918) used book knowledge and personal experience to write articles on the social problems of the day.

Jane Jackson

Abolitionist Jane Adora Major Jackson (1814-1888) and her husband, the Reverend William Jackson, secretly sheltered freedom seekers along the Underground Railroad.

Cordelia Vien

At the peak of her career as a local businesswoman, Cordelia Dragon Vien (1853?-1928) owned property valued at $250,000, equivalent to nearly $6.5 million today, in New Bedford’s North End.

Alice Virginia Bradford Tobey Jones

Wareham philanthropist Alice Tobey Jones (1873-1922) funded the establishment of Tobey Hospital, an institution that has played a major role in the health and well-being of Wareham and South Coast residents.

Emma Hall

Emma Hall (1865?-1949) started the first Girl Scout troop in eastern Massachusetts in New Bedford in 1913, called the “Red Rose Troop.” It was the first troop nationally to welcome African American girls and the third official Girl Scout troop in the U.S.

Elizabeth Leonard

Philanthropist Elizabeth Leonard (1823-1901) left an insightful legacy to the town of Rochester. In 1876, she donated money for the first Rochester Free Public Library.

Sarah Rotch Arnold

Nineteenth-century New Bedford’s Sarah Rotch Arnold (1786-1860) was dedicated to her community, social reform, religious tolerance, and horticultural beauty.