- This is the Day
- Posts
- December 19
December 19
Mary Livermore, Martin Luther King, Sr., and Bayard Taylor
David Barnhart
December 19, 2025
Ferns and trees, England, 2011. Own photo.
Today is the birthday, in 1830, of Mary Livermore, abolitionist and women’s rights activist, who was a prolific journalist and speaker for her causes. Along with Lucy Stone and others, she co-founded the American Women’s Suffrage Association.
Today is also the birthday, in 1899, of Martin Luther King, Sr., Baptist pastor and civil rights leader. Not only was he involved in faithful justice work his whole life, he was a formative influence on his son, Martin Luther King, Jr. He was inspired to change his name from Michael to Martin Luther while in Germany, learning more about the Protestant Reformation in the shadow of the growing Nazi influence.
Today marks the death, in 1878, of Bayard Taylor, poet, travel writer, and diplomat.
Reflection:
Bayard Taylor wrote this line, which I think sums up my approach to this year-long devotional:
"The healing of the world is in God's nameless saints. A single star may seem to give faint light; but countless stars break up the night, and make it beautiful."
In 1888, Mary Livermore wrote:
“It is regarded as a misfortune when a boy grows to manhood content to live on the labor of others. With girls it has been otherwise. It has been assumed that they would marry and be “supported” by competent husbands. The only training necessary for them with this inevitable future before them should be such as would fit them to be wives, mothers, and housekeepers – “sweet dependents,” held perpetually in “soft subjection.” The practical working of this theory has weighted women with heavy disabilities, for many men make neither good nor competent husbands.”
In contrast to the above quote, I think it’s important to include a story Gerda Lerner shared in The Creation of Feminist Consciousness:
"How does it feel to be known as the husband of Mary Livermore?" was the snide question asked by a reporter of the Rev. Mr. Livermore, whose wife, a famous and popular writer, reformer and lecturer, often helped fill his pulpit and co-edited a periodical with him. Mr. Livermore responded with a charming smile: "Why, I'm very proud of it. You see, I'm the only man in the world who has that distinction." His reply is as notable for its good spirit as for its rarity.
Prayer: God, with humility and grace, help us shine. Amen.