Who is Lucretia Mott? Born in Nantucket in 1793 of Quaker parents, she became an abolitionist, suffragist, Quaker Minister, anti-war activist, and founder of Swarthmore College. In an age when most women were not expected to think about issues of the day, Lucretia Mott not only contemplated them, but also spoke out on them. A follower of Elias Hicks, she served as a Public Friend who emphasized the divinity within every individual.
Mott supported the Anti-Slavery movement. She was elected as an American Representative to the 1840 General (or World’s) Anti-Slavery Convention. Women were excluded from participating and were required to sit in a segregated area. Then Mott realized that she must also muster her efforts towards women’s equality. In 1848, Lucretia Mott joined Elizabeth Cady Stanton to convene the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY.
Lucretia Mott will be re-enacted by Kim Hanley from the American Historical Theatre in Philadelphia. After her presentation, Lucretia Mott will join us for refreshments in the newly renovated Barclay Meeting Room.
Re-enactor Kim Hanley is an actor, singer, costumer and dancer, trained by the School of American Ballet. She has a BFA in Restoration and History of Applied Arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY.
Kim began interpreting historical women with American Historical Theatre in 1997. She has appeared at the White House Visitors Center, National Archives, National Portrait Gallery, Frazier Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Franklin Institute, Liberty Museum, and the Constitution Center, among others.
In addition to Lucretia Mott, Kim’s character portrayals include Annie Oakley, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Abagail Adams, Mary Young Pickersgill, Betsy Ross, Molly Pitcher, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Alice Roosevelt’s maid Anna, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and Grace Coolidge.