In October of 1900 The Woman’s Journal noted the passing of Julia Robbins Barrett: Mrs. Barrett had a bright mind, and was a zealous Abolitionist and advocate of equal suffrage for women. This summarized Julia’s life. The fourth daughter of Eli and Hannah Simonds Robbins of East Lexington, born on May 6, 1819, Julia followed her sisters Abigail and Ellen to Adams Female Academy in Derry, New Hampshire, one of the more rigorous schools for young ladies. Here she added the newly-instituted course of the French language to her studies. Her interest in ideas continued on her return to Lexington as she attended lectures in the hall her father had built in 1833. In a letter to her Adams Academy friend Mary Plumer, Julia commented on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1839 lectures in his “Human Life” series. Julia championed fellow Lexingtonian Reverend Theodore Parker, attended presentations on mesmerism and phrenology, visited the Transcendentalist community of Brook Farm, and delighted in her Aunt Caira’s collections of books.

Growing up in a family of abolitionists, Julia served as secretary to her father Eli who hosted speakers of various persuasions at his hall. From the radical abolitionist Parker Pillsbury to Samuel May who had been dubbed “the Lord’s chore boy” by his brother-in-law Bronson Alcott, to Charles Follen, Wendell Phillips, and John Pierpont, Julia knew them all. She heard William “Box” Brown and the Crafts – Ellen and William – tell of their escapes from slavery. With her cousin George Washington Simonds, she was among the crowd at Faneuil Hall cheering the British abolitionist George Thompson. Stepping into the political world, Julia circulated an unsuccessful clemency petition for Black seaman Washington Goode who was accused of murder. For several days in December 1850 Julia sold glassware from abolitionist friends in Europe at the annual Anti-Slavery Fair held at Faneuil Hall.

As Eli Robbins had a subscription to The Liberator, Julia would have read of the Seneca Falls convention in the August 25, 1848 edition. In 1850 she signed a petition circulated in Lexington by her cousin George to the Massachusetts General court (the state legislature) asking that as women are made to pay taxes and obey criminal laws that they be allowed to vote and hold office. In October the First National Woman’s Rights Convention was held in Worcester, MA. Julia noted the day, October 23, in her diary: This day the great Convention in Worcester to discuss Womans [sic] rights, was greatly crossed not [to] be able to go [1].

Finding life in Lexington too confining, Julia enrolled at the Boston School of Design. Her studies here led to a position at the Lowell Company where she was employed for five years as a carpet designer. Her marriage in 1860 to Concord dairy farmer John Barrett changed the venue but not her commitment to anti-slavery activity or to suffrage for women. The Civil War directed women’s attention to the war effort with organizations like the Concord Female Charitable Society whose members, including Julia, sent lighter-weight uniforms and food items to the Union soldiers.

Women, increasingly involved in abolitionist activities, realized the limitations to their political identity. When the 15^th amendment in 1870 granted the vote to Black men, bypassing women despite their work for abolition and suffrage, activity began in earnest. For the 1871 Suffrage Bazaar, Mr. and Mrs. John Barrett were listed on the program of the Concord Town Committee. Julia canvassed neighbors for needlework and fancy items to be sold.

In 1879 the Massachusetts General Court granted women the right to vote in local school committee elections. Women, not satisfied with this limited suffrage, campaigned for the right to vote in local elections. Their goal was municipal suffrage which Lucy Stone referred to as “enlarged housekeeping.” This was not a popular cause in conservative Concord, but Julia persevered as she collected sixty-four signatures, forty-two from women, for her petition to the Massachusetts legislature.

When the 19^th Amendment granting suffrage to women was ratified in 1920, Julia was not alive to reap the reward of years of her work. Women’s work in abolitionist activities led to their realization of their limited role in political affairs, hence the push for suffrage – a seven decade long struggle. Julia Robbins Barrett- abolitionist, artist, suffragist – along with countless others had finally won the day. [2]

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