Amelia Stone Quinton

Who was Amelia Stone Quinton?

Amelia Stone Quinton was an American social activist and advocate for Native American rights. She helped form the Women's National Indian Association in 1883 and was the association's president from 1887 to 1904; during this time the association made progress in advancing the rights of Native Americans, including influencing the passing of the Dawes Severalty Act by Congress in 1887, providing Native Americans with allotment and citizenship. Henry Dawes would later recognize that "the new government Indian policy was born of and nursed by this women' association."

Amelia Stone was born on July 31, 1833 in Jamesville, New York, near Syracuse to Mary and Jacob Thompson Stone. She was tutored by Samuel B. Woolworth in Homer. Stone married Reverend James Franklin Swanson and lived in Georgia for several years. After Swanson died, she married astronomy and history lecturer Richard L. Quinton in London, taking his name. She lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died on June 23, 1926 in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.