Lydia Hamilton Smith (1813-1884) was the daughter of a mixed-race free woman and an Irish man.In 1847, Smith started working as the housekeeper to abolitionist and long-time US Congressman Thaddeus Stevens. Smith, however, comported herself as an equal to Stevens–essentially as a common law wife. Stevens was an Underground Railroad activist and Smith was also helping to distribute food and provisions.
When Stevens died, Smith received a portion of his inheritance which allowed her to buy his house and adjoining property. She also bought a boarding house in Washington D.C. that she ran successfully. She died in 1884 on Valentine’s Day.-Heidi Durrow
Mixed Experience History Month is the annual blog post series created by The New York Times best-selling author Heidi Durrow celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is an effort to highlight the long history of folks and events involved in the Mixed experience. Please look for archived profiles of people, places and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May! Thanks for reading. And check out some of the previous year’s profiles: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.
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