Elizabeth Buffum Chace (December 9, 1806 – December 12, 1899) was an American activist in the anti-slavery, women's rights, and prison reform movements of the mid-to-late 19th century. She was inducted into the

Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame was established in the State of Rhode Island in 1965. Mission The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame Officers The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame is managed by a president, vice president, recording ...

in 2002.

Birth and early life

Elizabeth; Buffum Chace was born Elizabeth Buffum in

Smithfield, Rhode Island Smithfield is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,118 at the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1731, it includes the historic villages of Esmond, Georgiaville, Mountaindale, Spragueville, Stillwater, an ...

on December 9, 1806, to Arnold Buffum and Rebecca Gould, the Buffum and Gould families were some of the oldest families in New England. A birthright

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, Elizabeth Buffum grew up in a household that was

anti-slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

, her father Arnold holding strong beliefs in that regard and being president of the

New England Anti-Slavery Society The New England Anti-Slavery Society (1831–1837) was formed by William Lloyd Garrison, editor of '' The Liberator,'' in 1831. ''The Liberator'' was its official publication. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, members of the New England Anti-slave ...

Marriage and early activities

On April 4, 1828, Buffum married Samuel Buffington Chace, also a birthright

of an old

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

family. It was after her marriage to Samuel that Elizabeth began to become truly influential in the anti-slavery movement. Although Samuel was not as outspoken as his wife, he shared her beliefs and together, they opened their home in Valley Falls, Rhode Island as a Station on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

, at great personal risk, to runaway slaves helping them escape to Canada. Elizabeth had ten children with Samuel. The first five died in childhood to diseases that ravaged the families of that time. In 1835, Elizabeth helped to found the Fall River Female Anti Slavery Society, after the original group struggled to integrate the free black women who wished to join as members.Stevens, Elizabeth C. ''Elizabeth Buffum Chace and Lillie Chace Wyman: A Century of Abolitionist, Suffragist, and Workers' Rights Activism''. United States: McFarland Publishing, 2003. She and her sisters held the point of view of working to end all racist practices, and not just working towards abolition as the original group intended. She named the group the "Fall River Anti-Slavery Sewing Society" (The word Sewing was later changed to include Female)

Civil War years

With the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

in 1861, the Chaces continued their striving for the outlaw of slavery and although firmly supportive of the Union cause, were disappointed that

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

did not move immediately to abolish slavery. Elizabeth Buffum Chace met and corresponded regularly with many of the most significant Anti-Slavery figures of that time; she associated personally with

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was an Abolitionism in the United States, American abolitionist, journalist, and reformism (historical), social reformer. He is best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper ''The ...

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

, and

William Wells Brown William Wells Brown (November 6, 1814 – November 6, 1884) was an American abolitionist, novelist, playwright, and historian. Born into slavery near Mount Sterling, Kentucky, Brown escaped to Ohio in 1834 at the age of 19. He settled in Boston, ...

, and hosted them frequently at her home. As an illustration of just how dedicated to and involved in the anti-slavery movement the Buffum family were, while

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

was being held in Virginia after his actions at

Harpers Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 269 at the 2020 United States census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac River, Potomac and Shenandoah River, Shenandoah Rivers in the ...

and right prior to being hanged, Elizabeth's sister Rebecca Buffum and her son Edward journeyed to Virginia from Rhode Island specifically to visit with Brown in his cell. They requested and received special permission from the Virginia authorities to do so thinking that they could "minister" to John Brown. By their own account of the visits, John Brown welcomed them openly.

Later years

In her later life, Elizabeth continued to advocate for the political rights for women and for prison and workplace reform. She and other influential women were involved in the creation of the RI State Home and School for Dependent and Neglected Children, which resulted in a bill in 1884 to create a home for them. The School was opened in 1885. She died on December 12, 1899, aged 93, and was buried at

Swan Point Cemetery Swan Point Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Established in 1846 on a 60-acre (0.24 km2) plot of land, it has approximately 40,000 interments. History The cemetery was first organize ...

in Providence, Rhode Island.

Legacy

;Conscience of Rhode Island In 2001, Rhode Island Secretary of State, Edward S. Inman III selected Elizabeth Buffum Chace out of a field of 36 nominees including

Anne Hutchinson Anne Hutchinson (; July 1591 – August 1643) was an English-born religious figure who was an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her strong religious formal d ...

and Christiana Carteaux Bannister, to be singularly honored with a bronze bust in the Rhode Island State House as "The Conscience of Rhode Island" for her tireless championing of the rights of the less fortunate. This was the first time in the history of the Rhode Island State House that an image of a woman was displayed within the building. The bust of Elizabeth Buffum Chase was created and sculpted by the Bolivian born artist Pablo Eduardo of Gloucester, Massachusetts. ;Influence of the family Samuel and Elizabeth's progeny played large roles in higher education in the 20th century. Their son, Arnold Buffum Chace, became the Chancellor of Brown University and a renowned mathematician associated with the

Rhind Papyrus The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (RMP; also designated as papyrus British Museum 10057, pBM 10058, and Brooklyn Museum 37.1784Ea-b) is one of the best known examples of ancient Egyptian mathematics. It is one of two well-known mathematical papyr ...

. Their daughter, Lillie Buffum Chace Wyman, became an author publishing several books and writing regularly for such magazines as ''The Atlantic Monthly'' in addition to being a tireless social reformer. Samuel and Elizabeth's grandson,

Malcolm Greene Chace Malcolm Greene Chace (March 12, 1875 – July 16, 1955) was an American financier and textile industrialist who was instrumental in bringing electric power to New England. He was a pioneer of the sport of ice hockey in the United States, and was ...

, was a US Collegiate Tennis Champion, and father of American ice hockey. Two of their other grandsons,

Richard Chace Tolman Richard Chace Tolman (March 4, 1881 – September 5, 1948) was an American mathematical physicist and physical chemist who made many contributions to statistical mechanics and theoretical cosmology. He was a professor at the California Ins ...

and Edward Chace Tolman, both became professors of renown. Richard played a crucial role as Scientific Liaison for the United States Army on the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

, and Edward, a pioneer in

Behaviorism Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understand the behavior of humans and other animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex elicited by the pairing of certain antecedent stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that indivi ...

, successfully sued the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

for firing him for refusing to sign the infamous

Loyalty Oath Loyalty is a Fixation (psychology), devotion to a country, philosophy, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only another human being can be the obj ...

of the 1950s during the

McCarthy Era McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United S ...

. However, the Chace family is perhaps best known for its involvement in textile manufacturing. The textile company associated with the Chace family, the Valley Falls Company, later became known as Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates, later

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...

. ;Influence on the Foundation of the Rhode Island State Home and School Buffum was one of the largest impetuses in the Foundation of the Rhode Island State Home and School in 1885.

References

External links

*
First Petition for Women's Suffrage in Rhode Island
from the Rhode Island State Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Chace, Elizabeth Buffum American women's rights activists American Quakers Activists from Providence, Rhode Island People from Smithfield, Rhode Island People from Cumberland, Rhode Island 1806 births 1899 deaths Underground Railroad people Burials at Swan Point Cemetery Quaker abolitionists Quaker feminists 19th-century American women Suffragists from Rhode Island Abolitionists from Rhode Island