Laura S. (Laura Smith) Haviland

Born in 1808 in what is now Ontario, Laura Smith Haviland was raised in a Quaker family and later settled in Michigan. After the deaths of her husband and children, she devoted herself even more fully to public service, becoming one of the best-known reformers in the Midwest.

Haviland is remembered above all for her abolitionist work. She helped operate the Underground Railroad, supported formerly enslaved people, and founded the Raisin Institute in Michigan, a school noted for admitting Black and white students together at a time when that was deeply controversial. During and after the Civil War, she continued traveling, teaching, and assisting people who had escaped slavery.

Her reform efforts did not stop there. She also worked for women’s rights, temperance, and prison reform, and later wrote an autobiography, A Woman’s Life-Work, reflecting on decades of activism. She died in 1898, leaving a legacy of practical courage and steady commitment to justice.