Ann Frances Jarvis Greely (October 15, 1831- October 22, 1914) was a

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

activist, abolitionist, business owner, and suffragist in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. Greely was one of the first women to own a business in Ellsworth, Maine (and in the state itself). She started a series of women's rights lectures in 1857, and was active in the women's suffrage movement in Maine. Greely helped support the Unitarian Church in Maine. In 1895, she was given the legal right to practice medicine.

Biography

Greely was born in Ellsworth, Maine on October 15, 1831. Greely attended

private schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

and Reverend Peter Nourse's school. Greely was likely influenced by Nourse to become a Unitarian Universalist. Greely was part of the First Unitarian Society in Ellsworth, founded in 1865. She was later involved in the building of a Unitarian Church in Ellsworth, which was opened in August o 1867. Greely opened her own millinery store, named "Old Stand" in 1851. She was one of the first women to open her own business in Ellsworth and one of the first businesswomen in Maine. In 1853, she married Everard H. Greely, and Ann Greely continued to operate her own business. Greely attended the Seneca Woman's Rights Convention in 1848. In 1857, Greely, her sister, Sarah Jarvis, and Charlotte Hill, created a committee that organized lectures on women's rights in Ellsworth. That March, Susan B. Anthony was one of their speakers and she gave a lecture to a crowded room at Whiting Hall. Greely was also an abolitionist and supported the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

. In 1873, Greely was at the organizing meeting of the Maine Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA). She was involved in writing and signing many different women's suffrage petitions to the Maine Legislature. She also likely wrote opinion columns under the pen name, "Qui Est." Greely also earned a special certificate to practice medicine in 1895. However, she never "engaged in general practice." She did act as a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

to friends, family, and animals. She died on October 22, 1914.

References

Sources

* {{Authority control 1831 births 1914 deaths People from Ellsworth, Maine Businesspeople from Maine American Unitarians Suffragists from Maine Abolitionists from Maine American women's rights activists 19th-century American businesswomen 19th-century American businesspeople