Laura Smith Haviland: Michigan’s Abolitionist & Reformer | December 20

Born on this day in 1808, Laura Smith Haviland became a prominent abolitionist in Michigan. She and her husband founded the Raisin Institute in 1837, a reform school that admitted children of all races, creeds, and sexes—likely Michigan’s first to admit African Americans. Haviland’s legacy is honored with a statue at the Lenawee County Historical Museum, inscribed as “A Tribute to a Life Consecrated to the Betterment of Humanity.”