Elizabeth Fry

Elizabeth Fry (1780 -1845) was an English prison reformer, social reformer, a Quaker, and a Christian philanthropist. When she was 18 she heard an American minister preach and from that time on she was involved with the poor, sick and prisoners. Elizabeth was recorded as a Minister of the Religious Society of Friends in 1811. She founded a prison school for the children who were imprisoned with their parents. She created the British Ladies' Society for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners, which was the first organized women's group in Britain. She later established a homeless shelter in London. In 1840 Fry opened a training school for nurses. Her program inspired Florence Nightingale, who took a team of Fry's nurses to assist wounded soldiers in the Crimean War.