Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to stand before you today to memorialize the remarkable life and legacy of Elizabeth Buffum Chace, a leader of the abolitionist and suffrage movements in Rhode Island, by naming a post office in her honor in the city of Central Falls. Born in 1806, Elizabeth Buffum Chace was raised by Quaker parents outspoken about their opposition to slavery, often harboring fugitive slaves in their home seeking refuge in Rhode Island. Elizabeth soon became an activist herself, passing around petitions, organizing groups of abolitionists, and even later opening her own home as a station in the Underground Railroad. Chace spent most of her life in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and was steadfast in her dedication to advancing women's rights, prison reform, and the abolitionist movement. She became known as the Conscience of Rhode Island for her passion for creating social change and her leadership in the face of adversity. During her later years, she settled down with her husband in Valley Falls, near the present-day city of Central Falls. She was committed to bettering the lives of others, serving as president of the Rhode Island Women's Suffrage Association, and helped organize a Female Anti-Slavery Society in Massachusetts. She also served on the Ladies' Board of Visitors to the Penal and Correctional Institutions of the State, which examined conditions in the State prison.…”