Elizabeth Buffum Chace

Elizabeth Buffum Chace (December 9, 1806 – December 12, 1899) was an American activist in the anti-slavery, women's rights, and prison reform movements of the mid-to-late 19th century.

She was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2002.

Birth and early life Elizabeth; Buffum Chace was born Elizabeth Buffum in Smithfield, Rhode Island on December 9, 1806, to Arnold Buffum and Rebecca Gould, the Buffum and Gould families were some of the oldest families in New England. A birthright Quaker, Elizabeth Buffum grew up in a household that was anti-slavery, her father Arnold holding strong beliefs in that regard and being president of the New England Anti-Slavery Society.

Marriage and early activities On April 4, 1828, Buffum married Samuel Buffington Chace, also a birthright Quaker of an old New England family. It was after her marriage to Samuel that Elizabeth began to become truly influential in the anti-slavery movement. Although Samuel was not as outspoken as his wife, he shared her beliefs and together, they opened their home in Valley Falls, Rhode Island as a Station on the Underground Railroad, at great personal risk, to runaway slaves helping them escape to Canada.

Elizabeth had ten children with Samuel. The first five died in childhood to diseases that ravaged the families of that time.

In 1835, Elizabeth helped to found the Fall River Female Anti Slavery Society, after the original group struggled to integrate the free black women who wished to join as members. She and her sisters held the point of view of working to end all racist practices, and not just working towards abolition as the original group intended. She named the group the "Fall River Anti-Slavery Sewing Society"

Legacy

Conscience of Rhode Island In 2001, Rhode Island Secretary of State, Edward S. Inman III selected Elizabeth Buffum Chace out of a field of 36 nominees including Anne Hutchinson and Christiana Carteaux Bannister, to be singularly honored with a bronze bust in the Rhode Island State House as "The Conscience of Rhode Island" for her tireless championing of the rights of the less fortunate. This was the first time in the history of the Rhode Island State House that an image of a woman was displayed within the building. The bust of Elizabeth Buffum Chase was created and sculpted by the Bolivian born artist Pablo Eduardo of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Influence of the family Samuel and Elizabeth's progeny played large roles in higher education in the 20th century. Their son, Arnold Buffum Chace, became the Chancellor of Brown University and a renowned mathematician associated with the Rhind Papyrus. Their daughter, Lillie Buffum Chace Wyman, became an author publishing several books and writing regularly for such magazines as The Atlantic Monthly in addition to being a tireless social reformer.

Samuel and Elizabeth's grandson, Malcolm Greene Chace, was a US Collegiate Tennis Champion, and father of American ice hockey. Two of their other grandsons, Richard Chace Tolman and Edward Chace Tolman, both became professors of renown. Richard played a crucial role as Scientific Liaison for the United States Army on the Manhattan Project, and Edward, a pioneer in Behaviorism, successfully sued the University of California, Berkeley for firing him for refusing to sign the infamous Loyalty Oath of the 1950s during the McCarthy Era.

However, the Chace family is perhaps best known for its involvement in textile manufacturing. The textile company associated with the Chace family, the Valley Falls Company, later became known as Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates, later Berkshire Hathaway.

Influence on the Foundation of the Rhode Island State Home and School Buffum was one of the largest impetuses in the Foundation of the Rhode Island State Home and School in 1885.