Nearly one quarter of the signers of the Declaration of Sentiments of the 1848 Woman's Rights Convention were reform-minded Quakers, as were four of the five women who organized the Convention. Just one month before, many of these same people had walked out of the regional Genesee Yearly Meeting in protest over several issues. In October of that same year, they formed the "Progressive Friends". In the words of Thomas M'Clintock, they affirmed that "not only will the equality of women be recognized, but so perfectly, that in our meetings, men and women will meet together and transact business jointly."

Jane and Richard Hunt, Mary Ann and Thomas M'Clintock, and several of their immediate and extended family members, were active participants in all these events.
The Hunt and M'Clintock families had migrated to Waterloo for religious reasons, economic opportunities, and participation in abolition and other reform movements. A large and active Quaker presence and social reform network in the region had attracted these natives of the Philadelphia and New York City areas.

By July of 1848, both families had become well established in the business and civic life of Waterloo and were recognized for their reform and church activism. Radical reform was a part of their daily lives. They devoted their time and resources to many causes -- antislavery, temperance, poor relief, agrarian reform, boycott of slave-produced goods, support of the Hungarian Revolution, Irish famine relief, Quaker religious reform, and women's rights.

Jane Hunt hosted the tea in her home, where the First Women's Rights Convention was planned. The following week, the M'Clintocks met in their front parlor, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, to draft the Declaration of Sentiments for the Convention. Family and home provided a base for these reform activities. In the process of reforming society, they also reformed the meaning of family. Join us as we explore the lives, activities, and homes of these reforming families.

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