Dynamo of the 19th Century

About the Book

Born the last of twelve children in Hinesburg, Vermont in 1814.

Loved academia - her favorite subject was Greek; this endeared her to James Stone, her Hinesburg Academy teacher and future husband.

Taught at Kalamazoo College, MI from 1843 to 1863. James, her husband was the president of the college and taught the men, while Lucinda taught the women. Their influence was profound: the enrollment increased fourfold during their tenure and visiting lecturers included: Emerson, Longfellow, and Fredrick Douglass.

Survived accusations against her husband for immoral behavior in 1863; the ensuing trial by the Baptist to prove him guilty, and the resultant civil lawsuit against the accusers which eventually awarded the Stones some $90,000.

Lucinda founded the Ladies Library Association in Kalamazoo that had a subsidiary called the Ladies' Library Club. Served as president and lectured with classes on topics of the day for women who were starved for knowledge; and she later founded similar clubs for women throughout the state of Michigan.

Perhaps most importantly, she led eight study tours for American young ladies around Britain and Europe from the late 1860s to 1888. Each study tour lasted one to one and a half years. The girls heard Gladstone and Disraeli in Parliament; listed to Victor Hugo gave a funeral oration; met Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, on top of the Great Pyramid and discussed coeducation with him. She also attended a party in Athens given by Schliemann, discoverer of Troy, in 1888 that was given in honor of Fredrick Douglas and his wife.

Convinced the University of Michigan to admit its first woman in 1870. As a result she was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan twenty years later.

Lucinda Stone gave her life to the advancement of women in America and earned a place for herself in this country's history.

About the Author

Sandra Bankston hails from Newport Beach, California where she went to Newport Harbor High School. After graduation, she attended Fresno State University where she took classes in creative writing and began to journal for years thereafter while raising her family. You are a Magnet was written in the 1980s and self-published, followed by the creation of One World Journal, a newsletter of humanitarian and spiritual issues. Sandra then worked for two centers in San Luis Obispo, writing/producing their newsletters. For the past 10 years she has been writing for a high school alumni newsletter and also prepared three editions of photo news booklets showcasing the lives of her high school class of 1952. She resides in the beauty of the Central Coast of California.

Webster Jones is a 1941 graduate of Evanston Township High School; he attended Denison University from 9/41 - 6/43 as a civilian, and remained there in the Navy V-12 program from 7/43 - 6/44 during which time he received a B.A. in Math & Physics; he was discharged from the Navy in 6/46.

He taught Physics at Middlebury College 46-47 and received an M.A. at Stanford in 6/48. He married Eunice Smith in 8/48 and started teaching at Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, CA in 9/49. The enrollment of the high school increased from 800 to 3000 in 20 years' time, as did the math staff from 2 to 18 under his leadership. During his time there he helped install new math courses at all levels. In 1975 he received a local award for his Outstanding Contribution to Education. He retired from full high school teaching in 1982 after 33 years.

In addition he developed and wrote a Math Prep Course on "How to prepare for the SAT Exam" that was the text in the Extension Program at the University of California at Irvine from 1978-1998.

His wife and he were co-chairmen of the committee of 12 who wrote a book about the 50-year history of Newport Beach's St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in 1998.