Reading Lucretia Mott

Works by and about Lucretia and James Mott and about their associates and times

Unless noted by an asterisk, all items are located in the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College or the Haverford College Quaker Collection.  For more information about the item, search the libraries' electronic catalog, Tripod. Please note, these items do not circulate outside of the libraries. 

Works by Lucretia Mott and James Mott

American Sermons. The Library of America 108. New York: Library of America, 1999.

Barbour, Hugh. Slavery and Theology: Writings of Seven Quaker Reformers, 1800-1870 ; Elias Hicks, Joseph John Gurney, Elizabeth Gurney Fry, Lucretia Coffin Mott, Levi Coffin, John Greenleaf Whittier, John Bright. Dublin, IN: Prinit Press, 1985.

Chapman, Maria Weston, American Anti-Slavery Society, Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, and National Anti-slavery Bazaar. Liberty Bell (Boston, Mass.). Boston: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1839.

Densmore, Christopher, Carol Faulkner, Nancy A Hewitt, and Beverly Wilson. Lucretia Mott Speaks: The Essential Speeches and Sermons. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2018.

“Document 20: Lucretia Mott, Speech, 1866.” Women & Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 16, no. 2 (September 2012): 98–98.

Free Religious Association. Proceedings at the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Free Religious Association, Held in Boston, June 1 and 2, 1871. Boston: press of John Wilson and Son, 1871.

Hallowell, Anna Davis, and Gale Cengage Learning (Firm). "James and Lucretia Mott Life and Letters". Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Women: Transnational Networks. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co, 1884.

Palmer, Beverly Wilson. “How Did Lucretia Mott Combine Her Commitments to Antislavery and Women’s Rights, 1840-1860?" Alexander Street, Binghamton, NY: State University of New York, 1999. Accessed November 1, 2019. 

Mott, James. James Mott Material. [Quaker Biographical Material], 2013.

Mott, Lucretia. A Sermon Delivered in the Unitarian Church in the City of Washington, by Lucretia Mott, First Month 15, 1843. Salem, O: Davis and Pound, Printers, 1843.

Mott, Lucretia. A Sermon to the Medical Students, Delivered by Lucretia Mott, at Cherry Street Meeting House, Philadelphia, on First-Day Evening, Second Month 11th, 1849. Philadelphia: W. B. Zeiber, etc, 1849.

Mott, Lucretia. "A Sermon to the Medical Students, Delivered by Lucretia Mott, at Cherry Street Meeting House, Philadelphia, on First-Day Evening, Second Month 11th, 1849." History of Women [Microform] ; Reel 942, No. 8447. Philadelphia: Merrihew and Thompson, 1849.

Mott, Lucretia. Discourse on Woman. Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson, 1850.

Mott, Lucretia. Discourse on Woman, Delivered at the Assembly Buildings, December 17, 1849. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson, 1850.

Mott, Lucretia. Discourse on Woman, Delivered at the Assembly Buildings, December 17, 1849. Philadelphia: W. P. Kildare, 1869.

Mott, Lucretia. “From the Women of Philadelphia U.S.A. in Answer to the Friendly Address of the Women of Exeter, England, on the Subject of Peace.” 1846.

Mott, Lucretia. Lucretia Mott Speaking: Excerpts from the Sermons & Speeches of a Famous Nineteenth Century Quaker Minister & Reformer. Pendle Hill Pamphlet, 234. Wallingford, Pa: Pendle Hill, 1980.

Mott, Lucretia. Proceedings of the Regular Autumnal Convention of Unitarian Christians: Held in the City of Philadelphia, October 20th, 1846. Philadelphia: Published by Richard Beresford, 1846.

Mott, Lucretia. Selected Letters of Lucretia Coffin Mott. Women in American History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002.

Mott, Lucretia. "Slavery and the “Woman Question”: Lucretia Mott’s Diary of Her Visit to Great Britain to Attend the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention of 1840". Supplement to the Journal of the Friends Historical Society, 23. Haverford, Pa: Friends’ Historical Association, 1952.

Mott, Lucretia. “What Is Anti-Slavery Work?” The Liberty Bell. By Friends of Freedom (1839-1858); Boston, January 1, 1846.

Mott, Lucretia, and Dana Greene. Lucretia Mott: Her Complete Speeches and Sermons, 1980.

Mott, Lucretia. Report of Addresses at a Meeting Held in Boston, May 30, 1867, to Consider the Conditions, Wants, and Prospects of Free Religion in America : Together with the Constitution of the Free Religious Association There Organized. Boston: Adams & Co., 1867.

The First Convention Ever Called to Discuss the Civil and Political Rights of Women, Seneca Falls, N.Y. July 19, 20, 1848. n.p: 1899.

Tolles, Frederick Barnes. A Quaker Reaction to Leaves of Grass. Durham, N.C: Duke University Press, 1947.

Whitton, Mary Ormsbee. “At Home with Lucretia Mott.” The American Scholar  20, no. 2 (1951): 175–84.

Works about Lucretia Mott and James Mott

Asaka, Ikuko. “Lucretia Mott and the Underground Railroad: The Transatlantic World of a Radical American Woman.” Journal of the Early Republic 38, no. 4 (Winter 2018): 613–42.

Bacon, Margaret Hope. “Lucretia Mott: Holy Obedience and Human Liberation.” In The Influence of Quaker Women on American History: Biographical Studies, 203–21. Lewiston, New York, 1986.

Bacon, Margaret Hope. “Lucretia Mott: Pioneer for Peace.” Quaker History 82, no. 2 (1993): 63–79. 

Bacon, Margaret Hope. “The Motts and the Purvises: A Study in Interracial Friendship.” Quaker History 92, no. 2 (2003): 1–18.

Bacon, Margaret Hope. Valiant Friend: The Life of Lucretia Mott. New York: Walker & Co, 1980.

Bacon, Margaret Hope. Valiant Friend: The Life of Lucretia Mott. [2nd ed.]. Philadelphia, Pa: Friends General Conference, 1999.

Barth, Ramona Sawyer. Release to the Captives: The Story of Lucretia Mott. n.p: 1943.

Bolton, Sarah Knowles. Lives of Girls Who Became Famous, 1886.

Brown, Ira V. Pennsylvania Reformers: From Penn to Pinchot. Pennsylvania History Studies ; No. 9. University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania Historical Association, 1966.

Bryant, Jennifer. Lucretia Mott: A Guiding Light. Women of Spirit. Grand Rapids, MI: William Eerdmans Pub, 1996.

Burnett, Constance Buel. Five for Freedom: Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt. New York: Greenwood Press, 1968.

Campbell, Karlyn Kohrs. “Pluralism in Rhetorical Criticism: The Case of Lucretia Coffin Mott’s ‘Discourse on Woman.” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 25, no. 1–4 (January 1, 1995): 1–10.

Carlson, A. Cheree. “Defining Womanhood: Lucretia Coffin Mott and the Transformation of Femininity.” Western Journal of Communication 58, no. 2 (Spring 1994): 85–97.

Cromwell, Otelia. Lucretia Mott. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958.

Cromwell, Otelia. Lucretia Mott. New York: Russell & Russell, 1971.

Davis, Lucile. Lucretia Mott: A Photo-Illustrated Biography. Read and Discover Photo-Illustrated Biographies. Mankato, MN: Bridgestone Books, 1998.

DeAngelis, Gina. Lucretia Mott. Women of Achievement. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 2001.

Ducas, Angeline. “Lucretia Mott: Woman of Eloquence.” Thesis (M.A.)--Emerson College, 1953.*

Eppinger, Priscilla Elaine. “Lucretia Mott: Theology Is Reform’s Foundation.” Dissertation Abstracts International. Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences 63, no. 04 (October 2002): 1408–1408.

Faber, Doris. Lucretia Mott, Foe of Slavery. Champaign, Ill.: Garrard Pub. Co., 1971. (For young readers).*

Faulkner, Carol. Lucretia Mott’s Heresy: Abolition and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth-Century America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.

Fisher, Katharine. Lucretia and Elizabeth: London 1840 - Seneca Falls 1848. n.p: 1923.

Furness, William Henry. God and Immortality: A Discourse in Memory of Lucretia Mott . Philadelphia: Office of the Journal, 1881.

Graham, Maureen. Women of Power and Presence: The Spiritual Formation of Four Quaker Women Ministers. Pendle Hill Pamphlet 294. Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill Publications, 1990.

Greene, Dana.  Lucretia Mott : a Woman of Sufficient Confidence. Washington, D.C. : American Association of University Women, 1980.

Greene, Dana. “Quaker Feminism: The Case of Lucretia Mott.” Pennsylvania History 48, no. 2 (Spring 1981): 143–54.

Grew, Mary. James Mott: A Biographical Sketch. New York: W. P. Tomlinson, 1868.

Hallowell, Anna Davis. James and Lucretia Mott: Life and Letters. 4th ed. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1890.

Hallowell, Anna Davis. James and Lucretia Mott: Life and Letters. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and company, 1896.

Hallowell, Anna Davis, and Gale Cengage Learning (Firm). James and Lucretia Mott Life and Letters. Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Women: Transnational Networks. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co, 1884.

Hanaford, Phebe A. Lucretia, the Quakeress, or Principle Triumphant. Boston: J. Buffum, 1853.

Hare, Lloyd Custer Mayhew. “The Greatest American Woman: A Life of Lucretia Mott, Social Pioneer. Chapter 7-13.” The American Historical Society, Inc, 1936.

Hare, Lloyd Custer Mayhew. The Greatest American Woman, Lucretia Mott. New York: The American Historical Society, Inc, 1937.

Haviland, Virginia. “Lucretia Mott: Girl of Old Nantucket.” Library Journal 76, no. 17 (October 1, 1951): 1573–1573.

Henry, David. “Text in Context: Lucretia Coffin Mott’s ‘Discourse on Woman.’” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 25 (1995): 11–19.

Henry, F. F. Lucretia Coffin in Nantucket. Old York Road Historical Society Bulletin. v. 35. Abington, Pa, 1974.

Hicks, Caroline. “Some Reminiscences of Lucretia Mott.” Long Island Magazine 1 (4), 1893.*

Isenberg, Nancy. “To Stand Out in Heresy": Lucretia Mott, Liberty, and the Hysterical Woman.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History & Biography 127, no. 1 (January 2003): 7–34.

Kurland, Gerald. Lucretia Mott, Early Leader of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Outstanding Personalities, No. 39. Charlotteville, N.Y: SamHar Press, 1972.

Lippincott, Horace Mather. Lucretia Mott and Her Religious Principles. Old York Road Historical Society Bulletin, v.18, 1954., 1954.

Lucretia Mott, 1793-1880. Philadelphia: Office of the Journal, 1880.

Marks, Jeannette Augustus. Lucretia Mott: Extension of Remarks of Hon. U.S. Guyer of Kansas in the House of Representatives, Monday, January 11, 1943. Washington, D.C: U. S. GPO, 1943.

Morrison, David Jenkins. A Guide Book to Historic LaMott: the Activities at Camp William Penn; the Life of Lucretia Mott; a History of the Village of LaMott. [Published by] David Jenkins Morrison, prepared expressly for persons attending the LaMott Historical Celebration, May 5, 1974. [Philadelphia]: Cheltenham Township Historical Commission, 1974.

Mott, Lucretia. “Stamp Depicting Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Stanton and Carrie C. Catt.” GPO, 1948.

Newman, Naomie E. “Lucretia Mott.” Negro History Bulletin 6, no. 4 (1943): 76–93.

Palmer, William Kimberley, and William Kimberley Palmer. Immortal Lucretia Mott. Chicopee, MA, 1937.*

Pagliaro, Penny Fankhouser. “The Education and Radical Thought of Lucretia Mott : a Partial Biography... ” Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii, 1976.

Pagliaro, Penny. “The Uncommon Education of Lucretia Mott.” Educational Perspectives 16, no. 1 (January 1, 1977): 16.

Palmer, Beverly Wilson. “Balancing Public and Private Lives in the Letters of Lucretia Coffin Mott and Florence Kelley.” Documentary Editing 30, no. 1–2 (Spring-Summer 2008): 47–55.*

Parry, Ellwood C. Promised Land. Old York Road Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. 29, November 1968.

Penney, Sherry H., and James D. Livingston. “Getting to the Source..” Journal of Women’s History 15, no. 2 (2003): 180.

Pettit, Joseph. Eulogy on Lucretia Mott. Philadelphia? sn, 1881.

Ritter, J. Bradford. Lucretia Mott: A Profile in Concern., 1972.

Rosenberger, Homer Tope. Montgomery County’s Greatest Lady: Lucretia Mott. The Bulletin of the Historical Society of Montgomery County, [Pa.], v. 6, No. 2, April 1948. Pennsylvania, 1948.

Roslewicz, Elizabeth A. “Educating Adults Through Distinctive Public Speaking: Lucretia Mott, Quaker Minister.” Dissertation Abstracts International. Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences 60, no. 09 (March 2000): 3499–3499.

Ross, Ellen M. “‘Everything Depends upon Going to the Root of the Matter and Speaking of Radical Principles’: Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) on Peace and the Transforming Power of Love.” Quaker History 106, no. 2 (2017): 1–29.

Rush, N. Orwin. “Lucretia Mott and the Philadelphia Antislavery Fairs.” Bulletin of Friends’ Historical Association 35, no. 2 (1946): 69–75.

Ryan, Ann Susan. “Nothing ‘Too Sacred to Question’: The Spirituality of Lucretia Mott.” Dissertation Abstracts International. Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences 62, no. 03 (September 2001): 1062–1062.

Sawyer, Kem Knapp. “Lucretia Mott: Friend of Justice. With a Message from Rosalynn Carter. Picture-Book Biography Series,” January 1, 1991.

Sillars, Malcolm O. “From Romantic Idealism to Enlightenment Rationalism: Lucretia Coffin Mott Responds to Richard Henry Dana, Sr.” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 25 (1995): 47–55.

Spain, Shirley. Lucretia Mott. Quaker Biography. Philadelphia: Committee on Education, Friends General Conference, 1942.

Sterling, Dorothy. Lucretia Mott. New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1999.

Sterling, Dorothy. Lucretia Mott, Gentle Warrior. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 1964.

Stiehm, Jamie Elizabeth. “‘Nothing as Favor but as Right’ : Lucretia Mott, a Case Study of the Origins of American Feminism.” Thesis (B.A.)--Swarthmore College, May 1983.

Tibergien, Mark. “Remembering Lucretia Mott.” Investment Advisor; New York, October 2013, n/a.

Triplett, Wallace. 1949. History of La Mott. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified].*

Vetter, Lisa Pace. “‘The Most Belligerent Non-Resistant’: Lucretia Mott on Women’s Rights.” Political Theory 43, no. 5 (October 2015): 600–630.

Vipont, Elfrida. A Faith to Live By. Philadelphia: Religious Education Committee, Friends General Conference, 1962.

Vipont, Elfrida. Quakerism: A Faith to Live By. London: Bannisdale Press, 1965.

Voskuil, Margaret Helen. The Enduring Ideal: The Inspiration of Lucretia Mott and Louisa May Alcott to Personal Achievement., 1937.

Whittier, John Greenleaf. The Underground Rail Road: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, &c., Narrating the Hardships, Hairbreadth Escapes and Death Struggles of the Slaves in Their Efforts for Freedom, as Related by Themselves and Others, or Witnessed by the Author; Together with Sketches of Some of the Largest Stockholders, and Most Liberal Aiders and Advisers, of the Road. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1872.

Zulick, Margaret D., and Michael Leff. “Time and the ‘True Light’ in Lucretia Coffin Mott’s ‘Discourse on Woman.’” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 25, no. 1–4 (January 1, 1995): 20–31.

Background reading: Lucretia Mott, Her Associates and Her Times

Alonso, Harriet Hyman.“Peace as a Woman’s Issue.” The Chronicle of Higher Education 39, no. 30 (1993): A12.

Anderson, Bonnie S. Joyous Greetings the First International Women’s Movement, 1830-1860. Oxford ; Oxford University Press, 2000.

 Bacon, Margaret Hope. The Night They Burned Pennsylvania Hall: A Chapter in the Struggle for the Liberation of Slaves and Women. Philadelphia, PA: Friends General Conference, 1992.

Blankenburg, Lucretia L. “Lucretia Mott: 1793–1880.” Notable Women of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1942.

Bohannon, Lisa Frederiksen. “Women’s Rights & Nothing Less: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.” Women’s Rights & Nothing Less: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, January 2001, 8–26.

Brown, Ira V. Mary Grew, Abolitionist and Feminist, 1813-1896. Selinsgrove [Pa: Susquehanna University Press, 1991.

Culver, Elsie Thomas. Women in the World of Religion. [1st ed.]. New York: Doubleday, 1967.

“Dear Lucretia Mott”, (Chapters 9 and 16), from Victoria C. Woodhull, Selected Writings of Victoria Woodhull: Suffrage, Free Love, and Eugenics. Edited by Carpenter Cari M. Lincoln. London: University of Nebraska Press, 2010.

Dixon, Chris. Perfecting the Family: Antislavery Marriages in Nineteenth-Century America. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1997.

Douglas, Emily Taft. Remember the Ladies: The Story of Great Women Who Helped Shape America. New York: Putnam, 1966.

Faulkner, Carol. “The Root of the Evil: Free Produce and Radical Antislavery, 1820-1860.” Journal of the Early Republic; Indianapolis 27, no. 3 (Fall 2007): 377–405.

Hanaford, Phebe A. Daughters of America: Or, Women of the Century. Augusta, Me: True and company, 1882.

Hersh, Blanche Glassman. The Slavery of Sex: Feminist-Abolitionists in America. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978.

Hunt, Helen LaKelly, and Cornell West. And the Spirit Moved Them: The Lost Radical History of America’s First Feminists. The Feminist Press, 2017.

James Frorer Collection (Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College). Quaker Torch Bearers. Philadelphia: Friends General Conference, 1943.

Kashatus, William C. The Friends Fight for Freedom, 1988.

Keller, Rosemary Skinner, and Rosemary Radford Ruether. “In Our Own Voices: Four Centuries of American Women's Religious Writing.” 1st ed. [San Francisco]: Harper San Francisco, 1995.

Lutz, Alma. Crusade for Freedom; Women of the Antislavery Movement. Boston: Beacon Press, 1968.

McFadden, Margaret H. Golden Cables of Sympathy - The Transatlantic Sources of Nineteenth-Century Feminism. The University Press of Kentucky, February 2015.

McPherson, James M., Alan Brinkley, and Christine Stansell. Days of Destiny: Crossroads in American History : America’s Greatest Historians Examine Thirty-One Uncelebrated Days That Changed the Course of History. 1st American ed. New York: DK Pub, 2001.

“Mott, Lucretia Coffin (1793-1880),” from Suzanne O'Dea, From suffrage to the Senate: America's political women : an encyclopedia of leaders, causes & issues. Amenia, NY : Grey House Publishing.

Nash, Gary B. First City - Philadelphia and the Forging of Historical Memory. University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc, 01.

National Woman’s Party. Equal Rights (Washington, D.C.). Washington: National Woman’s Party, 1923.

Our Famous Women: An Authorized Record of the Lives and Deeds of Distinguished American Women of Our Times ... Hartford, Conn: A. D. Worthington and Co, 1884.

Papachristou, Judith. Women Together: A History in Documents of the Women’s Movement in the United States. 1st American ed. New York: Knopf : distributed by Random House, 1976.

Parton, James, and Gale Cengage Learning (Firm). Eminent Women of the Age Being Narratives of the Lives and Deeds of the Most Prominent Women of the Present Generation. Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Women: Transnational Networks. Hartford, Conn: S. M. Betts, 1868.

Penney, Sherry H., and James D. Livingston. “Origins and Influences.” In A Very Dangerous Woman, 7–16. Martha Wright and Women’s Rights. University of Massachusetts Press, 2004.

Reed, Myrtle. Happy Women. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1913.

Riegel, Robert Edgar. American Feminists. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1963.

Selvidge, Marla J. Notorious Voices: Feminist Biblical Interpretation, 1550-1920. New York: Continuum, 1996.

Shultis, Elizabeth C. Seneca Falls, 1848: All Men and Women Are Created Equal : A Dramatization. Seneca Falls, N.Y. (Box 227, Seneca Falls 13148): Elizabeth Cady Stanton Foundation, 1984.

Sklar, Kathryn Kish. Women’s Rights Emerges within the Anti-Slavery Movement, 1830-1870: A Brief History with Documents. The Bedford Series in History and Culture. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000.

Speicher, Anna M. The Religious World of Antislavery Women: Spirituality in the Lives of Five Abolitionist Lecturers. 1st ed. Women and Gender in North American Religions. Syracuse, N.Y: Syracuse University Press, 2000.

Swarthmore College. Proceedings on the Inauguration of Swarthmore College: Eleventh Month 10th, 1869. Philadelphia: Merrihew & Son, Printer, 1869.

Tinling, Marion. With Women’s Eyes: Visitors to the New World, 1775-1918. Hamden, Conn: Archon Books, 1993.

Digital and video projects: Lucretia Mott, Her Associates and Her Times

Bacon, Margaret Hope, Elaine Prater Hodges, Pamela Sommerfield, Take One Productions, Philadelphia Area Cultural Consortium, and Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Lucretia Mott. Mount Laurel, NJ: NFL Films Video, 1985.

Burns, Ken, Paul Barnes, Geoffrey C. Ward, Florentine Films, and PBS Home Video. Not for Ourselves Alone the Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony. United States: PBS Home Video, 1999.

Films for the Humanities & Sciences, and Films Media Group. The Oratory of Women’s Suffrage. New York, N.Y: Films Media Group, 2012.

Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Films Media Group, and Public Broadcasting Service. The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Revolution. New York, N.Y: Films Media Group, 2009.

The Lucretia Coffin Mott Papers Project. Pomona, California. Beverly Wilson Palmer, Editor.  Established in October, 1997, this project has published a one-volume edition: Selected Letters of Lucretia Coffin Mott.  Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002. Edited by Beverly Wilson Palmer, Holly Byers Ochoa, and Carol Faulkner. The 200 selections provide a critical woman's perspective on the important issues of the time: slavery, women's position in society, religious freedom, and the philosophy of non-resistance. Included in the volume is a calendar of all letters located to or from Mott. The project has established a database of 1,436 documents which includes all known letters to and from Lucretia Mott.

Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries. In Her Own Right. http://inherownright.org/.

Bibliography originally created by Barbara Addison (2002) and updated by Gwendolyn Rak (2019).