When people think about early women’s rights activists they tend to think of Susan B. Anthony or Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They don’t usually name drop Lucy Stone (1818-1893), who was also a pioneer in the movement for women’s rights. Unfairly, Stone is the forgotten suffragist.

This Women’s History Month, let’s meet Lucy Stone, who was a feminist before people even used the label. In fact, in those days, feminists were often called “Lucy Stoners.”

Stone was a prominent reformer during what is now known as the first wave of feminism. Throughout this time, women including Stone, Stanton, Anthony, Harriet Tubman, and Margaret Fuller fought for suffrage in the US. They were joined by many other activists around the globe. Stone helped organize the first National Women’s Rights Convention in 1850, and participated in subsequent conventions as well. She founded the American Woman Suffrage Association, which focused on state-level efforts. Stone also founded their official publication The Woman’s Journal to advocate for women’s rights. She lived her values. Reminding Americans of the “no taxation without representation” principle, Stone refused to pay her taxes because she wasn’t permitted to vote. (This resulted in the impoundment and sale of her household goods.)

Stone didn’t live to see women finally win the right to vote in the twentieth century, although she helped to achieve other basic rights for women along the way. She was a dedicated abolitionist who took to the public stage, working as a paid lecturer for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. She was a passionate speaker who drew large crowds to her lectures (and often out-earned her male colleagues). Stone and other feminists in the US helped to attain the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished enslavement in 1865. On the lecturing circuit, she began wearing a new style of dress that challenged popular feminine fashion of the time. This scandalous outfit consisted of a loose, short jacket and a pair of pantaloons or baggy trousers, worn under a skirt that fell a few inches below the knees.

During this time, women’s rights activists won the right to divorce, to own property, and claim their inheritance. They also won the right to retain their last names after their nuptials, like Lucy Stone did when she married Henry Blackwell in 1855. In the 19th century, women were legally considered part of their husband’s household upon marriage, meaning they lost their legal identity and had to take their husband’s last name. Stone was the first married woman to keep her “maiden name,” which was a significant act of defiance against societal norms. She would later register to vote in Massachusetts, because the state allowed women’s suffrage in some elections, but she was removed from the rolls because she didn’t use her husband’s surname.

Stone was one of the first women to rewrite the traditional marriage vows to omit the word “obey.” She opted for a pledge that emphasized equality and respect and included a protest against marital law. Stone was also one of the first women to attend college and earn a degree. She graduated in 1847 from Oberlin College in Ohio, which was the first college to admit women, just as it had been the earliest to admit people of color. However, even progressive Oberlin wouldn’t allow Stone to speak in public. When she graduated, she declined the “honor” of writing a commencement speech that would be read by a male graduate instead.

As mentioned, Stone’s life was so inspiring that her name became synonymous with women who were just like her. In her day, a powerful, strong-minded, independent woman was called a “Lucy Stoner.” This wasn’t always a compliment.

Lucy Stone’s actions were bold and shocking for her day, and she paved the way for future generations to challenge gender norms and fight for equality. In 1893, at the age of seventy-five, Stone lay dying of stomach cancer. Her last words were, “I am glad I was born, and that at a time when the world needed the service I could give.” This was the final selfless statement of a woman who had worked hard her entire career to secure freedom for enslaved people, and also to obtain equal rights for women.

Dr. Karen Stollznow is the author of On the Offensive: Prejudice in Language Past and Present and her latest book is Bitch: The Journey of a Word.