Ball, Martha V.

Lot 4428

Martha Violet Ball (May 17, 1811 – December 22, 1894) was an American educator, philanthropist, activist, writer, and editor.

In 1833, Ball and her sister, Lucy, opened a school for young African American girls in the West End of Boston. In the same year, she assisted in the organization of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, of which she and her sister, Lucy, held leadership roles.

Her work among unfortunate women and girls led to the formation of the New England Female Moral Reform Society, for which she acted as Secretary and Manager. She was a constituent member of the Ladies' Baptist Bethel Society, first as its Secretary and then for thirty years its President. Ball was the first President of the Woman's Union Missionary Society of America for Heathen Lands, and a charter member of the New England Woman's Press Association. She was also the author of several small, popular books.