Born May 21, 1780
Norwich, Norfolk, England
Died October 12, 1845
Ramsgate, Kent, England
English Quaker minister, prison reformer, and advocate for the mentally ill and the homeless
Elizabeth Fry worked to improve living conditions for women prisoners, poor people, and the mentally ill. Rooted in the Quaker tradition (Quakers are members of a religious organization that stresses simple living and nonviolence) of performing acts of compassion and charity, Fry provided clothing and education for destitute children and adults, protested harsh prison sentences, founded a homeless shelter in London, England, and helped the unemployed find work. Fry attained a legendary status due to her ceaseless devotion to a population considered dangerous and hopeless by politicians and the public alike.
“For Elizabeth Fry incarceration without an accompanying belief in the ability of the offender to change for the better and to live a meaningful life in the community was unthinkable,” wrote George M. Anderson in the October 14, 1995, edition of America (150 years after Fry’s death). “But she knew that change could begin only when accused persons began to be treated as human beings.”
Fry was born in Norwich, in the county of Norfolk (northeast of London), England, on May 21, 1780.
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