New England’s Women Writers of the 19 th and early 20 th century

1. New England’s Women Writers of the 19th and early 20th century An Introduction

2. New England’s Women Writers of the 19th and early 20th Century: An Introduction • Until the 19th century, women were not commonly welcome into classrooms. As a result, the literary field was dominated by men. “The role of women was most often to inspire rather than to create.” • Once allowed the privilege of learning, women have more and more “become story tellers, poets and prophets, the authors of dreams and ideas—the voices to whom we listen.” • http://www.ibiblio.org/cheryb/women/wlit.html

3. New England’s Women Writers of the 19th and early 20th Century: An Introduction • New England in the 19th century was a “hot spot” for all things cultural. • Philosophical leaders such as Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, and Hawthorne were instrumental in encouraging the women in their circles to both expand their education and write. • In at least one case, the woman (Margaret Fuller) became the mentor instead of the mentee. • The New England women on the following pages became literary forces in their own right, most during their own lifetimes.

4. Alcott, Louisa May (1832-1888)Concord, MA • With the publication of her Little Women, Louisa May Alcott became as popular in her day as J. K. Rawlings is in the 21st century with her Harry Potter books. • Alcott was an editor of a children’s magazine and wrote other fictional and non-fictional works as well. • See the Alcott pages in this unit for media resources and much more.

5. Child, Lydia Maria (1802-1880)Medford, MA • Lydia Maria Child wrote a poem that is still recited and sung to this day. “Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go. The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh…” These words are as familiar in some circles today as they were when they were first published. • Child also wrote historical novels and The Frugal Housewife, a manual that was quite popular. • An active abolitionist, Child made her home a station on the Underground Railroad. • http://www.answers.com/topic/lydia-child • http://www.transcendentalists.com/lydia_maria_child.htm • http://womenshistory.about.com/od/childlydiamaria/a/over_the_river.htm • http://www.overtherivermovie.com/ • http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/lydiamariachild.html

6. Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)Amherst, MA • Emily Dickinson never know the reach of her influence. A recluse for most of her adult life, she delighted in writing poetry, but never had the pleasure of seeing it published. Instead, she leftpoemsbehind for hundreds of thousands of students to discover every year. • Anthologized in countless textbooks, she would be shocked at how popular her poetry has become: “how public like a frog…” Still, she might be secretly pleased to know that her poetry found an audience of millions. • http://www.transcendentalists.com/emily_dickinson.htm • http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/155

7. Freeman, Mary Wilkins (1852-1930)Randolph, MA • Mary Wilkins did not marry until after she was 40 years old. Her life experience and her upbringing in rural Massachusetts informed the short stories she began writing at a much younger age. • Her contribution to American literature and the early feminist movement cannot be downplayed. • While she is often classified as a regionalist, or local (New England) color writer, her stories about women’s issues make her work universal. • http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap6/freeman.html • http://www.litgothic.com/Authors/freeman.html • http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/freeman.htm

8. Fuller, Margaret(1810-1850) Concord/Boston, MA • Margaret Fuller’s lawyer father saw to her education, making sure that she learned Latin, Greek at a young age along with the other “regular” subjects of the day. Later, she also learned German and Italian. • A school teacher, a conversationalist and facilitator of conversations for women, Fuller also served as editor of The Dial, a key transcenden-talist publication, and later became an art reviewer and a journalist. • Fuller married an Italian revolutionary while on assignment in Italy. They and their young son drowned en route back to the U.S. • http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/fuller/ • http://www.margaretfullerhouse.org/main/?page_id=23 • http://www.margaretfuller.org/

9. Jewett, Sarah Orne (1849-1909)South Berwick, ME • The son of a prominent country doctor in South Berwick, Maine, Sarah Orne Jewett spent more time making rounds with her father than going to school. She eventually graduated from Berwick Academy and began writing shortly after, submitting short stories to The Atlantic Monthly, a prestigious literary magazine. • Best known for her book The Country of the Pointed Firs, Jewett’s work depicted life in New England, and especially Maine, although she knew city life in Boston and travelled extensively throughout the US and Europe with Annie Fields, widow of her first publisher. Friend and mentor of several contemporary women writers, Jewett was the first woman to receive an honorary Litt. D. degree from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME. • http://www.une.edu/mwwc/research/featuredwriters/jewetts.cfm • http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/jewett.htm

10. Lindbergh, Anne Morrow (1906-2001)MA/ME/VT • Beloved writer, aviator, and wife of one of the most famous men in the world, Anne Morrow Lindbergh built her literary niche writing poetry, travel and philosophical articles and personal journals. She was also the first licensed female glider pilot in the US. Her best-known work, the inspirational Gift from the Sea, is one of a dozen other published works. • A brilliant but shy young woman when she met Charles Lindbergh, she grew gracefully into her notoriety, but would eventually pay for it when her first-born son was kidnapped and never returned. • http://www.lindberghfoundation.org/docs/index. php/lindbergh-history/anne-morrow-lindbergh • http://www.lindberghfoundation.org/docs/index. php/lindbergh-history/anne-morrow-lindbergh

11. Lowell, Amy (1874-1925)Brookline, MA • A Pulitzer-Prize winner in 1925, Amy Lowell was influential in the Imagist movement of the early 20th century. Her privileged upbringing in Boston afforded her the best education and friendship with Boston’s elite. • She was an aficionado of the British poet John Keats and wrote his biography in 1925, the year of her death. • http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/435 • http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/amylowell/life.htm • http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/amylowell

12. Millay, Edna St. Vincent (1892-1950)Camden, ME • Vincent, as she was known to her friends, was the first female poet to win a Pulitzer Prize. She also was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1940 and received the gold medal from the Poetry Society of America in 1943. • She began writing poetry at age 5 and was very popular at her peak as a writer. Unconventional in her life-style, she used traditional poetic forms, favoring the sonnet and the ballad for much of her best-loved work. • See her section of this unit for a full listing of resources.

13. Sarton, May (1912-1995)York, ME • A prolific writer of 53 books, May Sarton was a poet, playwright, novelist, and memoirist of formidable talent and influence in the feminist movement. • Sarton also contributed remarkably to the body of literature about aging. • http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/sarton/blouin-biography.html • http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/sarton/sarton-bibliography.html • http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/maysarton.html

14. Sexton, Anne (1928-1974)Newton, MA • Married at age 19, Sexton suffered from post-partum depression twice, after the births of each of her two children. When her depression continued, her doctor suggested she use poetry as a healing outlet, so she enrolled in a poetry writing workshop and thus launched her formal venture into poetry. • Despite winning the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1967, depression remained a battle for her and in 1974 she committed suicide. Still, she left behind a body of work, much of it “confessional,” that encouraged others with her same struggles. • http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/14 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfvS_fgbuDI • http://www.poemhunter.com/anne-sexton/

15. Stowe, Harriet Beecher (1811-1896)Brunswick, ME/Hartford, CT • President Lincoln dubbed her the “little woman who caused the great war.” He was referring to her international best-seller, the aboli-tionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which did, in fact, cause a great stir about the depravities of slavery. • See the Harriet Beecher Stowe section of this unit for more information and resources. • http://www.une.edu/mwwc/research/featuredwriters/stoweh.cfm • http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/stowe/StoweHB.html

16. Thaxter, Celia Leighton (1834-1894)Portsmouth, NH • New Hampshire’s best-known poet of the 19th century spent much of her life at sea, literally. When she was 4, her family moved to White Island, 11 miles off the coast of Portsmouth, NH for her father to be the lighthouse keeper. She lived there on the Isles of Shoals for most of the rest of her life. • Legendary as a gardener, hostess, artist, and poet, Thaxter was friends with most of the leading artists, writers, and philosophers of her day and provided them an ocean retreat at her family’s hotel on Appledore Island for a number of summers. • Read more about her in her section of this unit.

17. Wharton, Edith (1862-1937)Lenox, MA • Edith Wharton was the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, doing so in 1920 for her novel The Age of Innocence, a social commentary on the society and culture of New York City in 1870. • An astute observer of human nature and interested in the contrast between beliefs and behaviors, Wharton also had a keen interest in architecture, gardening, and design and wrote articles and books on those subjects as well. • A number of her works have been adapted for films that are still popular today. • http://www.online-literature.com/wharton/ • http://www.edithwharton.org/index.php?catId=6

18. White, Ellen Gould (1827-1915)Portland, ME • Ellen Gould White is the single most translated American author, and the single most translated woman author in all of literature, world-wide. • An inspirational, even life-changing author, she wrote more than 40 books and 5,000 articles. But the compilations and paraphrases of her work brings the total to more than 100 titles. Steps to Christ, her “how-to” on Christian living, has been translated into 140 languages. • Ellen and her husband James were key founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. • For more about her and resources for her life and works, see the Ellen White section in this unit.