Amy Post facts for kids
Amy Kirby Post (born December 20, 1802 – died January 29, 1889) was an important activist in the 1800s. She worked for many social causes. These included ending slavery and fighting for women's rights.
Amy grew up in the Quaker religion. This taught her that all people are equal. She later left the Quakers. This was because she wanted to work with non-Quakers to make social changes happen. Amy was friends with famous activists like Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony. She helped their causes both publicly and behind the scenes. She signed the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments. Amy was a lifelong activist. She worked on many connected social issues. This approach made her different from others who focused on only one cause.
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Amy's Early Life
Amy Kirby was born in 1802. Her family were Quakers living on Long Island, New York. Her parents were Jacob and Mary Kirby. They had five children. Amy grew up in Jericho. She went to the Quaker-run Jericho Friends School. This school taught both girls and boys. It also taught Black students until 1817. After that, a separate school was made for Black children. So, Amy went to school with Black children. She also met Black people working on local farms.
Her family raised her as a Quaker. This meant they lived a simple life. This included how they dressed and spoke. As Quakers, the Kirbys believed all people were equal. This was true no matter their gender or race.
Family Life and Marriages
Amy's sister, Hannah Kirby, married Isaac Post in 1822. They had a daughter named Mary. Isaac moved Hannah and Mary to Scipio, New York. Hannah felt lonely there. Amy visited her sister in 1823. During this visit, Amy met Charles Willetts. He asked her to marry him in 1824.
Amy went back home but kept writing to Willetts. She returned to Hannah and Isaac's home in 1825. Sadly, Charles Willetts died that same year. Hannah Post became very sick and died in April 1827. Amy helped care for her sister. In September 1828, Amy Kirby married Isaac Post. He was her late sister Hannah's husband. Amy became a stepmother to Mary and Edmund. Amy and Isaac had five more children. Their names were Jacob, Joseph, Henry, Willett, and Matilda. Sadly, Henry, Edmund, and Matilda died when they were children.
Quakers and Their Beliefs
Both Amy and Isaac Post were born into the Quaker religion. They were raised with Quaker beliefs. Their families were more open-minded about Quaker practices. In 1828, Quakers split into two groups. These were called Hicksite and Orthodox. This event was known as the Separation of Friends.
Amy and Isaac were part of the Hicksite group. But in 1845, they left their Quaker meeting. They did this to protest a rule. The rule banned members from "worldly" activism. This meant they could not work with non-Quakers for social change.
Amy's Activism
Historian Nancy A. Hewitt called Amy Kirby Post's activism "radical" for her time. She was unique because she supported social movements. These movements included both men and women. They also brought Black and white people together to work for shared goals. Quaker values of equality for all people shaped Amy's approach. Quakers also believed in discussion and agreement.
Amy's activism focused on "universal reform." This means she did not just focus on one or two issues. Instead, she worked for equality across race, class, and gender. She also supported democracy, religious freedom, peace, and social justice. She saw that many problems were connected. She did not think one movement could bring enough justice.
When Amy and Isaac Post moved to Rochester, New York in 1836, they could do more. They made new friends outside the Quaker community. Rochester was also a growing city. It had new railways, canals, and telegraph lines. This made it easy for speakers to visit. The city also hosted many conventions and protests.
Fighting Against Slavery
Amy Post was very active in the fight against slavery. She showed her beliefs by organizing events. She also became friends with other anti-slavery leaders. She and her husband welcomed these leaders into their home. They also held anti-slavery meetings there. Some Quakers thought this was wrong. They felt it was not right to work with non-Quakers to end slavery. In 1837, Amy signed her first anti-slavery petition.
Amy was a founder of the New York Western Anti-Slavery Society. This group started in 1842. Its first meeting was led by Abby Kelley. She was a former Quaker. The meeting brought together people from many religions. These included Baptists, Presbyterians, and Hicksite Quakers. Amy also worked with Mary Ann M'Clintock. They organized the first fundraising fair to end slavery in western New York. They raised $300 for the cause.
Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist Amy worked with. She became a close friend and advisor to him. Amy and Isaac supported Douglass's efforts. They helped him share his message through speeches and writings. They also helped him encourage Rochester to allow Black citizens to attend public schools. Amy invited Douglass to speak at a Quaker meeting. Some thought his ideas were too extreme. Douglass stayed with the Posts during his first visit to Rochester. William Cooper Nell, who worked on the anti-slavery newspaper The North Star, lived with the Posts for over a year.
Another friend of Amy Kirby Post was Sojourner Truth. She stayed at the Post home for several months in 1851. She also visited many times later. This friendship made Amy and Isaac Post even more dedicated to ending slavery, women's rights, and spiritualism.
A notable friend was Harriet Jacobs. She lived with the Posts in 1849 and 1850. She had escaped slavery in North Carolina. Jacobs told Post about her difficult experiences as an enslaved person. Amy Kirby Post encouraged Jacobs to write about her life. This would show the cruel reality of slavery. Amy also supported Jacobs's book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. She wrote a postscript for the book under a different name.
In 1884, Amy Kirby Post wrote "The Underground Railroad in Rochester." This piece described and praised the Underground Railroad. It was for a book called Semi-centennial History of the City of Rochester.
Fighting for Women's Rights
In 1846, Amy Kirby Post helped organize an anti-slavery fair. There, she and other women sold copies of a sermon. It was called "Sermon on the Rights of Women." This was an early sign of her work for women's rights. In 1848, Amy became an organizer in the women's movement. She believed in equality for women. She went to the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 in Seneca Falls (CDP), New York. She was one of 100 people who signed the Declaration of Sentiments. This document was first presented there.
Two weeks later, Amy and other women from the Seneca Falls Convention organized another meeting. This was the Rochester Women's Rights Convention of 1848 in Rochester. At a planning meeting, Amy Kirby Post was chosen as temporary chair. They also chose a committee to suggest officers. The Seneca Falls Convention had chosen a man to lead. But the Rochester organizers suggested a woman, Abigail Bush, for president.
When the convention met on August 2, Amy Kirby Post started the meeting. She read the suggested list of officers. Some leaders of the women's movement strongly opposed having a woman president. They feared women were not ready for this step. But Bush was elected anyway. This made it the first public meeting in the U.S. with a woman leading it. Amy Kirby Post kept going to women's rights conventions. In 1853, she signed "The Just and Equal Rights of Women" resolution.
Amy Kirby Post greatly influenced Susan B. Anthony. She encouraged and supported Anthony's work for women's rights. Anthony relied on Post to help with petitions. She also hosted speakers and organized conventions in Rochester. In 1873, Amy Kirby Post tried to register to vote. She knew women taxpayers contributed to Rochester. But she and others were denied. Amy continued her work with the National Woman Suffrage Association. At age 77, she was asked to speak at their thirtieth anniversary convention in Rochester.
Other Important Activism
Amy Post also helped start a local group called the Working Women's Protective Union. She worked for better health for women. This was important for women's empowerment. Post was the treasurer for the union. This group worked for higher wages for working women. Their goal was equal pay for men and women.
Amy also informally helped women who were abused or left by men. She gave them aid, medical care, jobs, or housing. This was another way she supported women in need.
During the U.S. Civil War, Amy Kirby Post supported the National Loyal League. This group asked for the freedom of enslaved people. She also collected supplies for people who escaped slavery. She sent these to "contraband" camps. These were camps for formerly enslaved people freed by the Union Army. Harriet Jacobs and Julia Wilbur wrote about the terrible conditions in these camps. Amy used this information to raise awareness. She showed that the camps lacked enough food, shelter, and medical help. In 1863, 60-year-old Amy visited camps in Washington, D.C. and Alexandria, Virginia.
Amy Kirby Post also supported ending the death penalty. She also worked to stop the unfair treatment of indigenous people.
Leaving the Quakers and Later Life
Leaders in the Religious Society of Friends criticized Amy Kirby Post. They said her anti-slavery work was "too worldly." Amy and Isaac Post did not want to slow down their activism. So, they stopped going to Quaker meetings. They officially left the Hicksite Quakers in 1845. This allowed them to focus more on ending slavery.
In 1848, the Posts welcomed the Fox sisters, Kate and Margaret, into their home. These sisters seemed to talk to spirits through rapping sounds. The Posts introduced the girls to their activist friends. Almost all of them became strong believers in the new religion of Spiritualism. Sarah Thayer, an acquaintance, wrote to Amy Kirby Post about Spiritualism. She said it helped women guide their own spiritual lives.
Amy Kirby Post lived longer than her husband, Isaac Post. She continued to live in Rochester. In her last years, she was a well-known local figure. She was asked to help celebrate the city and activist groups she had helped. She died in 1889. Her friend and fellow activist Lucy N. Colman gave the speech at her funeral.
Amy's Legacy
Amy Kirby Post is remembered for her "lifestyle politics." This means she blended her activism with her daily life. Her everyday choices showed her political beliefs. This included her marriage, how she spoke, how she raised children, and even her clothing. These choices were a way to express her commitment to change. This type of activism allowed women to be as involved in politics as men. This was true even when women could not yet vote.
Amy's activism also shows a "multi-faceted" approach to social justice. She worked on many issues at once. She did not just focus on one thing, like ending slavery or women's rights. She believed that many struggles were connected. She thought that working on all of them together would lead to real change.
See Also
In Spanish: Amy Post para niños
