Anna Cora Mowatt

By:
On:
In: 19th Century Women, Actresses, Authors, Playwrights

American author, playwright, and actress, Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie (1819–1870), challenged the mores of her era by acting on the stage at a time when the theater was railed against by the clergy, when female actresses were considered lewd, and when women, especially upper-class women such as herself, were supposed to remain at home caring for husband and children. Early Life Anna Cora Mowatt’s early life set the stage for her later accomplishments. Born tenth in a family of fourteen children, Mowatt spent her first six years in France. Her aristocratic, wealthy parents had links to the first families in New York and cherished writingRead More →

Elizabeth F. Ellet American writer

By:
On:
In: 19th Century Women, Authors, Playwrights, Poets, Writing

Throughout history, many important accomplishments by women have been overshadowed by the so-called scandalous things they have reportedly done. Elizabeth Fries Ellet (October 18, 1818 – June 3, 1877) is a perfect example of this. A noted writer and historian of her time, whose wide-ranging work is still consulted today, Ellet has gone down in history, not as a gifted writer, but as one contemporary blog maintains, “a bad woman.” This is despite the fact that all accounts of her “nasty” behavior were recorded by the men directly involved in the scandal. Ellet’s Background Born in Sodus, New York to a well-to-do physician’s family, ElletRead More →