Over the river, and through the wood,
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes,
And bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.
        (The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day, 11-15)

1. The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day

Notes on Life and Works

Born February 11, 1802, in Medford, Massachusetts, Lydia Maria Child made her living as a novelist, story-story writer, schoolteacher, editor, writer for children, and controversialist. Her first notorious work, a novel entitled Hobomok, A Tale of Early Times (1824), celebrated interracial marriage. Later she published books for and on women, including The Frugal Housewife (1829) The Mother's Book (1831), The Girl's Own Book (1831), and The History of the Condition of Women (1835), and created and edited the first major children's journal, Juvenile Miscellany (1826-1834), in which she brought out some of her most memorable poetry. Her An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans (1833) and editorship of the National Anti-Slavery Standard (1841-43) established her as one of the century's great abolitionists. Her poetry collections were

• The Coronal (Boston: Carter and Hendee, 1832)
• Flowers for Children, 3 vols. (New York: C. S. Francis, 1844-47), later published separately in 1869
• Autumnal Leaves (New York: C. S. Francis, 1856)
• Looking towards Sunset (1864)

She finally settled in Wayland, Mass. Her marriage to David Lee Child in 1828 lasted until his death in 1874. She died October 20, 1880.

See also

• Baer, Helene G. The Heart is Like Heaven: The Life of Lydia Maria Child (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1964).
• The Collected Correspondence of Lydia Maria Child, 1817-1880, ed. Patricia G. Holland, Milton Meltzer, and Francine Krasno (New York: Kraus, 1980).
• Osborne, William S. Lydia Maria Child (Boston: Twayne, 1980). PS 1293 Z5 O8 Robarts Library

Biographical information

Given name: Lydia Maria
Family name: Child
Birth date: 11 February 1802
Death date: 20 October 1880
Nationality: American
Literary period: Realistic
Occupations
          Editor
          Novelist
          School-teacher