'Over the river and through the wood ...'

Lydia Maria Child

It is the birthday of poet and novelist Lydia Maria Child (1802), who may be best remembered for her Thanksgiving poem Over the River and Through The Woods (1844), about going for holiday dinner at her grandfather's house on the Mystic River in Medford, Massachusetts. Child became involved in the anti-slavery movement and published a book, An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans (1833), arguing for immediate emancipation of slaves. Under a pseudonym "An American," she wrote Hobomok: A Tale of Early Times (1824), about and interracial marriage between a white woman and a Native American man. A World War II Liberty Ship was named for her.