Lillie Buffum Chace Wyman facts for kids

Elizabeth "Lillie" Buffum Chace Wyman (born December 10, 1847, died January 10, 1929) was an American writer and social reformer. She was famous for her short stories and essays. These writings often talked about important problems. For example, she wrote about how factory workers were sometimes treated unfairly. Lillie also wrote poems and a special book about Queen Gertrude from Shakespeare's play Hamlet.

Early Life and Learning

Lillie Buffum Chace was born in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. She was one of ten children. Her mother, Elizabeth Buffum Chace, was a well-known social reformer. She worked to end slavery, gain voting rights for women, and improve prisons.

Lillie's father, Samuel Buffington Chace, came from a family of textile manufacturers. His father, Oliver Chace, started a textile company. Lillie's parents were Quakers. They believed in peace and equality.

Their home was a station on the Underground Railroad. This was a secret network that helped enslaved people escape to freedom in Canada. Lillie's brother, Arnold, grew up to be a famous mathematician.

Friends and Education

As a young person, Lillie became close friends with other activists. These included Fanny Garrison Villard and Anna Dickinson. They all worked to end slavery and support women's rights.

Lillie went to a girls' school in Massachusetts. It was run by Diocletian Lewis. She studied there with Theodore Dwight Weld, who was also against slavery. After school, she worked as her mother's secretary for several years. In 1872, she traveled to Europe to continue her studies for a year.

In 1878, Lillie married John C. Wyman. He was a former captain in the Union Army during the American Civil War. They had one son, Arthur Crawford Wyman, born in 1879.

Writing for Change

Lillie grew up around textile factories. This helped her understand the lives of factory workers. She studied their working conditions closely. This research became the basis for her stories.

In 1877, she published a short story called "The Child of the State." It appeared in Atlantic Monthly magazine. The story was about a child from a factory worker family who ended up in a reform school. This story helped bring attention to problems at real reform schools.

Stories and Essays

Lillie continued to write about factory life. Many of her stories were published in Atlantic Monthly. Others appeared in magazines like Christian Union.

In 1886, her stories were collected in a book called Poverty Grass. Later, in 1913, she published American Chivalry. This book was a collection of essays about social reformers. She wrote about people like Wendell Phillips, Sojourner Truth, and Parker Pillsbury. Some essays included her own memories of these people.

In 1914, Lillie and her son, Arthur, wrote a two-volume biography of her mother. It was titled Elizabeth Buffum Chace: Her Life and Its Environment.

A Unique Book About Hamlet

One of Lillie's most interesting books is Gertrude of Denmark: An Interpretive Romance (1924). This book explores the story of Queen Gertrude, Prince Hamlet's mother. It tells the events of the play from Gertrude's point of view. Lillie's book questioned common ideas about mothers at the time. She looked at how critics and actresses understood Gertrude's character.

Helping Communities

Lillie and her husband spent two winters in southern Georgia. While there, they helped start a free library for Black citizens. They also worked to create programs for industrial education for Black communities.

Books by Lillie Buffum Chace Wyman

• Poverty Grass (1886)
• American Chivalry (1913)
• Published Interludes and Other Verses (1913)
• Elizabeth Buffum Chace: Her Life and Its Environment (1914; with Arthur Crawford Wyman)
• Gertrude of Denmark: An Interpretive Romance (1924)