Page "Crystal Eastman" Paragraph 1

Crystal Eastman was born in Marlborough, Massachusetts on June 25, 1881.

Her parents, Samuel Elijah Eastman and Annis Bertha Ford, were both Congregational Church clergy, and together served as pastors at the church of Thomas K. Beecher near Elmira, New York.

In 1889, her mother had become one of the first women ordained as a Protestant minister in America.

This part of New York was in the so-called " Burnt Over District ," which earlier in the 19th century had generated much religious excitement, including the beginnings of Mormonism, and social causes, such as abolitionism and support for the Underground Railroad.

Her parents were friendly with the writer Mark Twain, and from this association young Crystal herself became acquainted with Twain.