"We are not machines. Girls have minds, desires, hopes and ambition."
Lizzie Magie
advertisement | january 1, 1906
in response to her satirical ad "Young Woman American Slave" {as quoted in The New York Times}
“But I ask no favors for my sex. I surrender not our claim to equality. All I ask of our brethren is, that they will take their feet from off our necks, and permit us to stand upright on that ground which God designed us to occupy.”Sarah Moore Grimké visionary social reformer
related quoteurs
we recommend...
Lizzie first encountered stenography at a convention with her dad when women were increasingly present in the office workforce. She soon began to earn her living in the trade. But, the salary didn't amount to much for an independent, single woman. To draw attention to her lack of living wages, Lizzie decided to publish a satirical ad in a local newspaper that offered herself for sale as a "young woman American slave." The sensational ad won the stenographer a lot of attention from the national press, generating publicity for her feminist agenda.
Francis Stewart | Bancroft Library | © all rights reserved
Lizzie supported herself as a stenographer for much of her career...but the low pay for women in the office made it difficult to make ends meet. In protest of her $10-per-week wages, Lizzie published a "personal ad" in the newspaper that offered herself for sale as an "young woman American slave." The stunt made her a national news story, giving Lizzie the chance to promote fair pay + women's rights in the headlines.
Peter Honeyman | CC BY-NC