Eliza Lee Cabot Follen

Born in Boston in 1787 into the prominent Cabot family, Eliza Lee Cabot Follen became known as a writer, teacher, and reformer. She married Charles Follen, a German-born scholar and outspoken opponent of slavery, and after his death she wrote a memoir that helped preserve his story as well as her own place in the reform circles of the time.

Follen wrote across several genres, but she is especially remembered for work for children and families. Her books and poems were widely read in the 19th century, and she is often noted as an early American writer for children whose work blended moral purpose with warmth and accessibility.

She was also a committed abolitionist and used her writing to speak against slavery, including in appeals aimed at women in the free states. She died in 1860, leaving behind a body of work that connects early American children's literature with the larger movements for education, religion, and social reform.