Lydia Andrews Finney

Lydia Andrews Finney (March 8, 1804 - December 17, 1847), born Lydia Root, was a social reformer and evangelical revivalist during the Second Great Awakening.[1] She was most notably a founder of the New York Female Moral Reform Society.

Lydia Andrews Finney
Born(1804-03-08)March 8, 1804
New Britain, CT
DiedDecember 17, 1847(1847-12-17) (aged 43)
Resting placeOberlin, OH

Early life

Finney was born in New Britain, CT, the fifth child of Nathaniel Andrews and Sarah Marcy.[2] She grew up with her family in the then religiously vibrant Whitestown, NY where she lived until she married her husband, Charles Grandison Finney, in 1824.[3] When she first met her would-be husband, he was not Christian and she prayed for his conversion, which would ultimately occur a few months after they first met in Adams, NY.[4][5] They were officially married on October 5, 1824.

Career

Finney was an active revivalist throughout her life, and joined her husband on many revival tours across the country. While her husband would preach, she would often lead women's prayer sessions.[6] She would also often establish maternal organizations and women's church groups in the towns that they visited.

Along with helping her husband, she was one of the founders and first directress of the New York Female Moral Reform Society. The group initially focused on what they saw as the widespread plague that was prostitution in America during the time, and advocated for approaches that would hold men as well as women responsible, as well as practical ways to reduce prostitution.[7] It eventually grew to have many branches outside of New York, and shifted to focus on more general women's issues. Finney's actions were controversial during the time, as she and other women openly discussed the then-taboo topic of prostitution.

In 1835, her husband took a job teaching theology at Oberlin College in Ohio, and shortly after she and their children moved to join him. She was very active both politically and socially in Oberlin, and helped found multiple organizations including the Oberlin Female Moral Reform Society, the Oberlin Maternal Association, and the Ohio Ladies Anti-Slavery Society.[8] She also arranged for three former prostitutes to study at Oberlin as part of her anti-prostitution activism.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Oberlin College Archives - History 213: First Wave Feminisms, Spring 2013". www2.oberlin.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  2. Andrews, Alfred (1872). Genealogical History of John and Mary Andrews, who Settled in Farmington, Conn., 1640: Embracing Their Descendants to 1872; with an Introduction of Miscellaneous Names of Andrews, with Their Progenitors as Far as Known; to which is Added a List of Some of the Authors, Clergymen, Physicians and Soldiers of the Name. A. H. Andrews & Company. p. 241. lydia finney whitestown ny.
  3. Kephart, William M.; Ryan, Mary P. (May 1982). "Cradle of the Middle Class: The Family in Oneida County, New York, 1790-1865". Journal of Marriage and the Family. 44 (2): 502. doi:10.2307/351562. JSTOR 351562.
  4. Finney, Charles G. (2007). Memoirs of Rev. Charles G. Finney. Writt. Gardners Books. ISBN 978-1-4255-5583-2. OCLC 154700074.
  5. BOYLAN, ANNE M. (1993), "Evangelical Womanhood in the Nineteenth Century: The Role of Women in Sunday Schools", Religion, DE GRUYTER SAUR, doi:10.1515/9783110974942.94, ISBN 978-3-11-097494-2 |chapter= ignored (help)
  6. "OHJ Archive". resources.ohiohistory.org. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  7. Shaver, Lisa J. Verfasser. (22 January 2019). Reforming women : the rhetorical tactics of the American Female Moral Reform Society, 1834-1854. ISBN 978-0-8229-6548-0. OCLC 1120132811.
  8. "Guide to the Women's History Sources in the Oberlin College Archives" (PDF). Oberlin College and Conservatory. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  9. Solomon, Barbara Miller (1985). In the Company of Educated Women: A History of Women and Higher Education in America. Yale University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-300-03639-8. lydia finney three prostitutes oberlin.
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