DIAZ, Abby Morton 1821-1904

PERSONAL:

Born 1821, in Plymouth, MA; died April 1, 1904, in Belmont, MA; daughter of Ichabod (a temperance crusader, abolitionist, and commune trustee) and Patty (Weston) Morton; married Emanuel Diaz (separated); children: two sons.

CAREER:

Brook Farm (commune), teacher in 1840s; schoolteacher in Plymouth, MA; writer, 1861-1904. Boston Women's Educational and Industrial Union, founder, president for twelve years, then vice president. Storyteller in Cambridge, MA; public speaker on women's issues and New Thought philosophy.

MEMBER:

Moral Education Association (president), New England Women's Club, Metaphysical Club (founding member).

WRITINGS:

The William Henry Letters (juvenile), 1870, published as The William Henry Letters from Crooked Pond School, Frederick Warne and Co. (London, England), 1871, edited by Anne Carroll Moore, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard (Boston, MA), 1930.

William Henry and His Friends, J. R. Osgood and Co. (Boston, MA), 1872, reprinted, Lothrop Publishing (Boston, MA), 1899.

Lucy Maria, J. R. Osgood and Co. (Boston, MA), 1874.

A Story-book for the Children, J. R. Osgood and Co. (Boston, MA), 1875.

A Domestic Problem: Work and Culture in the Household, J. R. Osgood and Co. (Boston, MA), 1875.

Neighborhood Talks, Peace Association of Friends in America (New Vienna, OH), 1876.

The Jimmyjohns, and Other Stories, J. R. Osgood and Co. (Boston, MA), 1878.

Simple Traveller: Little Stories for Little Folks, D. Lothrop and Co. (Boston, MA), 1880.

Polly Cologne, D. Lothrop and Co. (Boston, MA), 1881, published with illustrations by Morgan J. Sweeney, under pseudonym Boz, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard (Boston, MA), 1930.

Chronicles of the Stimpcett Family and Others, illustrated by Morgan J. Sweeney under pseudonym Boz, D. Lothrop and Co. (Boston, MA), 1882.

Domestic Problems, D. Lothrop and Co. (Boston, MA), 1884.

Spirit as a Power, 1886.

The John Spicer Lectures, D. Lothrop and Co. (Boston, MA), 1887.

Bybury to Beacon Street, D. Lothrop and Co. (Boston, MA), 1887.

Mother Goose's Christmas Party: A Rhymed Drama, Searle & Garton (Chicago, IL), 1891.

Only a Flock of Women, D. Lothrop and Co. (Boston, MA), 1893.

The Religious Training of Children, Metaphysical Publishing (New York, NY), 1895.

The Flatiron and the Red Cloak: Old Times at X-roads, T. W. Crowell and Co. (New York, NY), 1901.

"Those People from Skyton," and Nine Other Stories, S. E. Cassino and Son (Salem, MA), 1906.

Contributor of articles and fiction to periodicals, including Atlantic Monthly, Metaphysical, and Mind.

ADAPTATIONS:

Diaz's children's book The William Henry Letters was adapted for the stage.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Religious Leaders of America, 2nd edition, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1999.

PERIODICALS

Mind, 1901, Charles Brodie Patterson, "Abby Morton Diaz: A Biographical Sketch," pp. 167-172.

New England, April, 1899, "Antislavery Times in Plymouth."

OBITUARIES:

PERIODICALS

Boston Transcript, April 1-2, 1904.*