Clarina Irene Howard Nichols (January 25, 1810 – January 11, 1885) was a journalist,

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

, and public speaker involved in all three of the major reform movements of the mid-19th century: temperance,

abolition Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to: *Abolitionism, abolition of slavery *Capital punishment#Abolition of capital punishment, Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment *Abolitio ...

, and the

women's movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and women. Such issues are women's ...

that emerged largely out of the ranks of the first two. Though prominent enough in her time to merit her own chapter in Anthony's ''

History of Woman Suffrage ''History of Woman Suffrage'' is a book that was produced by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Ida Husted Harper. Published in six volumes from 1881 to 1922, it is a history of the women's suffrage movement, ...

'', Nichols has been overlooked since 1900 and only recently have her contributions to equal rights undergone a reassessment.

Biography

Clarina Irene Howard was born in West

Townshend, Vermont Townshend is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, Windham County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for the Townshend family, powerful figures in British politics. The population was 1,291 at the 2020 United States Census, ...

in 1810, into a prosperous

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. She graduated from a private school at the age of 18 and proceeded to teach for two years. In 1830, she married Justin Carpenter, with whom she had one daughter, Birsha, and two sons, Chapin and Aurelius. The marriage was a disastrous one, ending in divorce, and Clarina fell on hard times. Supporting herself and her children on "women's wages" — one-half to one-third what men received for similar work — she began writing for a newspaper in

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River (Vermont), West River and the Connec ...

, the '' Windham County Democrat in 1845''. She married the editor and publisher, George Nichols, and took his last name. When he became an invalid, she quietly took over his duties at the paper. Through her new profession, she was introduced to various reform movements of the day — temperance, women's rights, anti-

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, dress and diet reform — and actively embraced many of them, helping to propel the fledgling women's movement in the East. In October 1852, Nichols helped organize the first of several petitions submitted to the

Vermont legislature The Vermont General Assembly is the legislative body of the state of Vermont, in the United States. The Legislature is formally known as the "General Assembly", but the style of "Legislature" is commonly used, including by the body itself. The G ...

to give women the right to vote in school meetings. When the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 threatened to establish slavery outside of the South, she uprooted her family to become a pioneer and activist in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Her efforts helped catapult her adopted state into the forefront of women's rights, gaining the respect and support of such women as Susan B. Anthony and

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( Cady; November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 ...

. Over the course of her life, Nichols served as teacher, lecturer, editor, writer, farmer, lay doctor and lawyer, government clerk, matron in a home for destitute black children and widows, and conductor on the Underground Railroad. She died in 1885 in California.Crump, Britney
“Nichols, Clarina Irene Howard.”
Civil War on the Western Border.

Footnotes

External links

Clarina Nichols
Women's Rights Activist And Journalist
Biography
from a website created by the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

and the

Kansas State Historical Society The Kansas Historical Society is the official state historical society of Kansas. Headquartered in Topeka, it operates as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history and operates the Kansas Museum of Histor ...

Clarina Irene Howard Nichols Papers.Schlesinger Library
, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Clarina I.H. 19th-century American women journalists American women's rights activists American lobbyists 1810 births 1885 deaths Writers from Brattleboro, Vermont Underground Railroad people Temperance activists from Vermont 19th-century American journalists Suffragists from Vermont

Biography

See also

Footnotes

Further reading

External links