Lucretia Mott

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In: Abolition, Education, Women's Rights

The Quaker minister, Lucretia Mott, lived from 1793 to 1880. During that time she fought to reform society in every way she could. She believed that forming organized groups and taking action against social injustice was the way to bring about change. She founded the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society(1833), was the impetus behind the Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention (1948), founded The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania (1850), and Swarthmore College in 1864. In a very busy life time she fought for temperance, peace, equal rights, woman’s suffrage, common schools, improved prisons, and the abolition of slavery. I desire to escape the narrow walls of a particular church, to liveRead More →

Augusta Evan Wilson

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In: Civil War, Writing

Born in 1835 in Columbia, Georgia, Augusta Evans Wilson was the first American woman author to earn over $100,000 until Edith Wharton did so in the 1920s.  She wrote the first of nine novels, Inez: A Story of the Alamo, at the age of fifteen, and her second novel, Beulah, written at eighteen, sold 22,000 copies and established her as a professional writer.  Typical of her times and following the pattern of the inspirational romance genre, her novels featured spunky heroines who succumbed to traditional values and happily-ever-afters written in the sentimental style of the period.  During the Civil War, she supported the Confederate cause, working tirelessly in theRead More →

Wide, Wide World: A Book Review

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In: 19th Century Women, Authors, Civil War, Writing

“Good came out of evil, as it often does…” Thus writes Susan Warner at the end of her novel The Wide, Wide World, a work often considered America’s first best seller. It was certainly a literary sensation. Published by Putnam in 1851 Warner’s novel was widely acclaimed. Henry James, for example, compared it to the work of Flaubert. In two years alone, fourteen editions were issued. It remained in print through 1892 and sold thousands of copies in both the United States and England. The Wide, Wide World is the story of a little girl’s journey to womanhood. Ellen, a spoiled and highly emotional child,Read More →

Ester Howland

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In: 19th Century Women, Business, Daily Life

“…this is the day on which those charming little missives, ycelped* Valentines, cross and inter-cross at every street and turning. The weary and all forespent twopenny postman sinks below a load of delicate embarrassments, not his own.” Valentine’s Day in Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb 1860 (*called) Valentine’s Day was a well-established holiday by the 1860’s, dating back to, it is attributed, the ancient Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia, and to St. Valentine who, it is said, sent the first valentine to the girl who had visited him in prison, signed “From Your Valentine.”  However, it is clear that by the 1860s the religious aspect of the day had been putRead More →

George Sand

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In: News

How I wish I could impart to you this sense of the intensity and joyousness of life that I have in my veins. To live! How sweet it is, and how good, in spite of annoyances, husbands, debts, relations, scandal-mongers, sufferings, and irritations! To live! It is intoxicating! To love, and to be loved! It is happiness! It is heaven! George Sand Amantine Dupin (1804-1876), better known as George Sand, is considered one of the literary greats of the 19th century, publishing over fifty novels and twelve plays, as well as numerous political essays and memoirs. The daughter of a French lieutenant with ties to theRead More →

Harriet Tubman

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In: 19th Century Women, Abolition, Civil War, News, Writing

Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) was recognized as a hero in her own day. An escaped slave, she repeatedly went back to the south and led other slaves to freedom, saving thousands. Outspoken and fearless, she was a passionate and influential speaker in both the abolitionist movement and in the fight for women’s rights. It is very hard to know for sure if the words attributed to Harriet Tubman are truly hers. Dr. Sernett, author of Harriet Tubman: Myth, Memory, and History (Duke University Press, 2007) says, “Because she was illiterate, we have mediated histories of her — stories always told by others — that leave it open toRead More →

Sara Josepha Hale

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In: 19th Century Women, Authors, Literature

If you enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday, you can thank Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1877). Hale, the first woman magazine editor in the United States, petitioned Presidents for 17 years until Abraham Lincoln established the day in 1863. Hale believed in educating girls  (She later helped establish Vassar College) having obtained her education second-hand from her brother who taught her what he was learning at Dartmouth. Widowed with five children, Hale wrote and worked to support her family. As editor of first the American Lady’s Book and then Godey’s Lady Book she was arbitrator of American fashion and letters for over 40 years. She believed that American publications should support American writersRead More →

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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In: 19th Century Women, Activists, Motherhood, Women's Rights

Stanton has gone down in history as a tireless fighter for women’s rights who spoke her mind and would not be cowed. She was also a tender and loving mother who didn’t tolerate nonsense concerning child-rearing. The following excerpt relates her experiences caring for her first-born. …I had been thinking, reading, observing, and had as little faith in the popular theories in regard to babies as on any other subject. I saw them, on all sides, ill half the time, pale and peevish, dying early, having no joy in life. I heard parents complaining of weary days and sleepless nights, while each child, in turn,Read More →