New Bedford prepared physician and political agitator Marie Equi (1872-1952) for a lifetime of social justice advocacy. Born here on April 7, 1872, in the family home at 185 South Second Street, Marie Diana Equi was one of 11 children of John and Sarah Mullins Equi.

Marie’s father, John, anglicized from Giovanni, arrived in America at the age of 12 in 1853 from Italy and joined an older brother in New Bedford. A stonemason, John laid the foundation for St. Lawrence Martyr Church, the family’s church for all Catholic sacraments. Marie’s mother Sarah arrived in New Bedford with her mother at the age of nine in 1858 from Ireland, where both parents opposed British rule. In a Catholic ceremony, John and Sarah were married in April 1866.