"A wife should no more take her husband's name than he should her's. My name is my identity and must not be lost."  -Lucy Stone 

      Lucy Stone (1818-1893), an American suffragist and anti-slavery advocate campaigned tirelessly for equality and name choice freedom. Her efforts resulted in a number of landmark achievements, including becoming the first American woman to retain her own name after marriage.  She also has the distinction of being the first woman from Massachusetts to obtain a college degree.

      Stone became aware of the inherent inequality of a patriarchal structure at an early age.  As one of nine children, she observed as her father ruled her mother and their children in a domineering and humiliating fashion.  Disturbed by the oppressive nature of her father’s household, and frustrated by the resistance she encountered in her pursuit of higher education, Stone empowered herself to create the changes she saw as necessary in the defense of her identity and her rights.

      Stone spent several years teaching at various institutions in order to raise enough capital to fund her academic pursuits at Oberlin College in Ohio, which was the first American university to consider applications by both women and African-Americans.   Stone excelled in her classes to the extent that she was invited to write the commencement address at her graduation, an invitation she declined as at the time, even an institution as progressive as Oberlin College still prohibited women from delivering a public address.

      After graduation, Stone chose to put her remarkable oratory skills to work, and began to champion the causes of both women’s suffrage and the anti-slavery movement.  She spoke to crowds across the country, and helped to organize the first National Women's Rights Convention.  She also played a key role in the formation of the American Woman Suffrage Association.  Stone also spoke on numerous occasions on behalf of the American Anti-Slavery Society.

      In addition to her efforts to educate the public and lobby the government for change, Stone is perhaps best known for refusing to take her husband’s name.  Rejecting what she had identified as an archaic and unequal custom, Stone saw no reason to sacrifice her right to identity by adopting her husband’s surname at the cost of her own individual freedoms and identity.  Stone emphasized the deep connection between a person’s name and their identity, and dedicated much of her life towards protecting that bond from the many external pressures that inherently strived to deny it. 

      Adamant about her right to maintain the individuality of her own identity, Stone employed creative forms of civil disobedience in her efforts to establish true gender equality.  She famously refused to pay property taxes on a house registered in her own name, arguing that such inequalities were an occurrence of ‘taxation without representation”, as in spite of Stone’s legally endorsed right to maintain property, her legal status as a woman still denied her the basic right to vote.

      The legacy of Lucy Stone continued to resonate and inspire following her death in 1893.  The Woman’s Journal (which was originally conceived of and funded by Stone herself) continued its publications until 1917, and the Lucy Stone League was formed four years later in 1921.  Initially convened in an effort to raise awareness about individual rights, the League continues to operate and advocate for name change equality for women and men in all aspects and venues of personal and civil life.