Lydia Maria (Francis) Child published her first book at age 22, a work of historical fiction that daringly featured romance between a Native American man and a white woman. She established America 's first children's magazine, Juvenile Miscellany, in 1826, and then gave up her family wealth to marry David Child in 1828. The state of their finances can be seen in the title of The Frugal Housewife (1829); one of the first such books in America, it was immensely popular. Child gave up this success, however, in 1833, when she published one of the first books to argue against slavery. The book caused a huge uproar among proper Bostonians, who cancelled their subscriptions to her children's magazine. Although she continued to write on other topics – including The History of the Condition of Women (1837), she concentrated on abolishing slavery and assumed the editorship of the National Anti-Slavery Standard in 1841. During this time, Child and her husband had a “commuter marriage:” he worked as the Standard's journalist in Washington while she did the same in New York .

Child's friend Maria Weston Chapman was a much less prolific author, but had a similar career as an abolitionist journalist. After Chapman lost her prestigious job as principal of Boston 's Young Ladies High School because of her anti-slavery views, she joined The Liberator, the paper published by William Lloyd Garrison, in 1836. While continuing to assist him, she also introduced her own paper, the Non-Resistant, from 1839 to 1842, and in 1844, Chapman co-founded the National Anti-Slavery Standard, which became the standard for abolitionist papers. Many other women also wrote for the abolitionist press, including African-American Charlotte Forten of Philadelphia, as well as Sarah and Angelina Grimke, white sisters who grew up in South Carolina.

Notable women in the abolitionist and women’s rights movements of the 19th century. Lucretia Mott, Grace Greenwood, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Anna Dickinson, Mary Livermore, Susan B. Anthony, and Lydia Maria Child. Library of Congress LC-USZ62-5535

Women's rights activist Amelia Bloomer. Library of Congress LCUSZ62

Unlike Child and Chapman, Amelia Bloomer almost accidentally stumbled into controversial writing. Her husband, newspaper editor Dexter Bloomer, was more feminist than she. When Amelia covered the 1848 Women's Rights Convention in their hometown of Seneca Falls, New York, she was there primarily as a reporter for his paper. The next year, however, she launched her own paper, The Lily , and soon became a leading figure in the cause of women's advancement, famed for publicizing what became known as “bloomers.” This garment, sometimes called “Turkish trousers,” was first worn in Seneca Falls by Elizabeth Smith Oakes, a visiting cousin of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stanton preferred the practical garment (which included pockets, an innovation for women) to the constrictive female garb of the antebellum period. Bloomer's promotion of the clothing made her the public image of dress reform, but she also used her paper to advocate for women's rights and temperance.

“The Bloomer Costume” as sung by Lewis Knight, published in 1851. The lyrics begin: “The “women” advocating, “”rights” In Northern State conventions, And basking in the newest lights Flashed from their own dissention. Determined that they would man-tain (And this is not a rumor) The privilege to swing a cane And – dress like Mrs. Bloomer O, dishcloth, pots and pewter spoons, Soap suds and greasy dishes, Oh! The devil take the one who, first Invented Turkish trousers. Library of Congress Printed Ephemera Collection; Portfolio 200, Folder 22

Photograph of Paulina Wright Davis made by Manchester Bros. and engraved by J.C. Buttre. Published between 1850-1881. Library of Congress LC-USZ62-37939

A more serious but lesser known proponent of dress reform, Lydia Hasbrouck, issued her biweekly, Sybil , longer than Bloomer published The Lily . While Bloomer never truly adopted “the Bloomer Costume,” Hasbrouck continued to wear pants for decades --- and despite this, was elected to the school board of Middletown , New York in 1880.

The first publication exclusively devoted to women's rights arguably was Una (Latin, meaning “one”), which Paulina Wright Davis began in Providence , Rhode Island in 1853. Amanda Way and Sarah Underhill established Women's Tribune in Indianapolis in 1859, and other such feminist journalists followed.