Lucy Louisa Coues Flower (May 10, 1837 – April 27, 1921) was an American

children's rights Children's rights are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.

activist at the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s. Flower was a president of the

Chicago Woman's Club The Chicago Woman's Club was formed in 1876 by women in Chicago who were interested in "self and social improvement." The club was notable for creating educational opportunities in the Chicago region and helped create the first juvenile court in th ...

. She was the major contributor in the creation of the

juvenile court A juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes that are committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal s ...

, along with others such as

Julia Lathrop Julia Clifford Lathrop (June 29, 1858 – April 15, 1932) was an American social reformer in the area of education, social policy, and children's welfare. As director of the United States Children's Bureau from 1912 to 1922, she was the first wo ...

and

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...

. The creation of the juvenile court was not Flower's only accomplishment; she was also prominent in the creation of Illinois Training School for nurses, the foundation of the John Worthy School, and played many major roles in the Chicago School System. Flower was very interested in helping juveniles, which leads to her biggest creation - the juvenile court, founded on July 1, 1899, in

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

. Before the juvenile court, children as young as seven were sent to jails with adult criminals. In 1898, there were 508 crimes committed by children 10 and under, and 15,161 committed by children 10 to 20. In 1899, when the court was established, the crime rate went down for all children. Lucy Louisa Coues was born on May 10, 1837, in Boston, Massachusetts. She was adopted by Charlotte Haven Ladd and Samuel Elliott Coues. She grew up in

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

, and attended the

Packer Collegiate Institute The Packer Collegiate Institute is an independent college preparatory school for students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Formerly the Brooklyn Female Academy, Packer has been located at 170 Joralemon Street in the historic district of Br ...

from 1856 to 1857. She then worked for the

United States Patent Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...

in Washington before moving to

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

. She ran a private school there and taught high school from 1862 to 1863. She married attorney James M. Flower on September 4, 1862. They had three children and moved to Chicago in 1873. In 1911 Lucy Flower Technical High School for Girls opened on the South Side of Chicago (the school later moved to the West Side) as the city's first open-enrollment school for girls. Flower died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 27, 1921, in

Coronado, California Coronado (Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort city located in San Diego County, California, United States, across the San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. Its population was 24,697 at the ...

. Chicago's Lucy Flower Playlot Park was renamed in her honor in 2005 (formerly the People's Park).

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