Erminnia Adele Platt Smith

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In: 19th Century Women, Science

Erminnie Adele Smith (April 26, 1836– June 9, 1886) was a geologist, linguist, and anthropologist. A CHILDHOOD ROOTED IN CURIOSITY Born on April 26, 1836, in Marcellus, New York, Erminnie Adele Platt grew up just a stone’s throw from the Onondaga Iroquois reservation. Her world was one of endless questions and boundless wonder. Picture a young girl with her skirts muddied from afternoons spent collecting rocks and wildflowers, her pockets brimming with nature’s treasures. She attended the Troy Female Seminary, a rare opportunity for women at the time, where her hunger for knowledge only grew. Even as a child, Erminnie was never satisfied with surfaceRead More →

Helen Hamilton Gardener

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

Helen Hamilton Gardener, née Alice Chenoweth, (January 21, 1852 to July 26, 1925), made her mark on history, first as an author and Free Thought lecturer, and later as a key player in obtaining the vote for women. EARLY LIFE & STRIFE Born Alice Chenoweth in Winchester, Virginia, Gardener was the sixth child of an itinerant Methodist minister, whose family, in 1865, moved to Greencastle, Indiana, where they farmed. An avid learner, she was educated by tutors and grew up admiring her father, who had freed the slaves he inherited and then served as a scout in Virginia for the Union army. As the youngestRead More →

Dr. Henrietta Hyde, biologist

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In: 19th Century Women, Science, Women's Rights

Educator, biologist, public health and women’s rights advocate Ida Henrietta Hyde (September 8, 1857, to August 22, 1945) was born in Davenport, Iowa, into a German-speaking immigrant family. Ida Hyde’s Early Life When she was young, her father abandoned her mother and four siblings. In 1871, the Chicago fire destroyed the family home, and as the oldest sibling, she became the breadwinner at age fourteen, working in a clothing factory and as a milliner. During this time, she paid for her only brother’s tuition at the University of Illinois and also took evening classes from 1875 to 1876. During this period, she read The ViewRead More →

Dr. Ann Preston

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In: Writing

Dr. Ann Preston (1813 to 1872) was an abolitionist, a physician, a women’s rights advocate, and a children’s book author. Early Life Born into a Quaker family, she became interested in hygiene and medicine while tending her dying mother and sister. As the eldest, she took responsibility for raising her six brothers. During this time, she also experienced the cruelty of slavery firsthand. Her father’s farm in West Grove, close to the Delaware border, was associated with the Underground Railroad. As a young girl she helped hide fugitive slaves and agonized when runaways were recaptured by slave catchers. This experience compelled her to fight forRead More →

A writer

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In: 18th Century Women, Authors, Poets, Writing

British-born Sara Hoding (1798 to ?) has left little mark on history. A poet and writer, she lived a quiet life hemmed in by the role assigned to her as a woman. However, she has left behind an amazing journal full of witty and keen observations and poetry about her daily life, about nature, and about her travels. The Land Log-Book; a Compilation of Anecdotes and Occurrences Extracted from the Journal Kept by the Author, during a Residence of Several Years in the United States of America. Containing Useful Hints to Those Who Intend to Emigrate to that Country was published in 1836 and providesRead More →

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In: 18th Century Women, Motherhood, Science

Laura Maria Caterina Bassi Veratti  (1711 – 1778), an Italian physicist, was the first woman to be named chair of physics at any university. EARLY LIFE Laura Bassi was born in Bologna to a wealthy lawyer, Giuseppe Bassi, and his wife Maria Rosa Cesari. Her paternal grandfather, Giacinto Bassi, had run a chemists shop in Bologna, where natural-based medicines were prepared and sold. Laura was her parents’ only surviving child. They were an enlightened family for the time. As an only child, Bassi was given an extensive education. Starting at the age of five she was taught by her cousin, Father Lorenzo Stegani, Latin, French,Read More →

Ona Judge: I am Free

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In: 17th Century Women, Abolition, Women's Rights, Writing

This is a special guest post in honor of Black History Month written by my friend, and fellow biographical historical author, Diana Rubino. February is Black History Month, a celebration of achievements by African Americans and for recognizing their role in U.S. history. Ona Judge, Martha Washington’s ‘favorite servant’ (Mrs. Washington wouldn’t say ‘slave’), with her bravery, intelligence and shrewdness, escaped the Washingtons, outwitted her captors, and remained free for life. Thanks for making ONA JUDGE: I AM FREE an Amazon best seller. Ona’s Story Teenaged Ona (known as “Oney”) Judge was Martha Washington’s ‘favorite servant.’ Oney and Martha both longed for freedom, but inRead More →

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In: 19th Century Women, Artists

American sculptor, Vinnie Ream (1847*-1914), was the first woman and the youngest artist to receive a sculptural commission from the government of the United States. EARLY LIFE Born in a log cabin in Madison, Wisconsin, when it was little more than a hamlet, Vinnie Ream was one of the most well-known sculptors of the Gilded Age. Her father, Robert Ream, was a government surveyor who made the earliest maps of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. When the Civil War broke out, the Reams who were against slavery, moved to Washington City, where her father drew maps for the War Department, and Vinnie became one ofRead More →

Harriet Hosmer, Sculptor

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In: 19th Century Women, Artists

Long forgotten, American sculptor Harriet Hosmer (1830-1908) successfully challenged the role of women to become one of the most popular artists of the nineteenth century, but she had to leave the country to do so. Early Life After losing her mother and three siblings to tuberculosis, Harriett’s physician father encouraged his last remaining child to pursue vigorous outdoor activities including horseback riding, fishing, and hunting, stuffing many of the animals she killed. She spent many hours in a clay pit modeling animals and figures and determined she would be a sculptor. A wild child, she was expelled from three schools until her father enrolled herRead More →

Ida C. Craddock

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In: 19th Century Women, Activists, Authors, Spiritualism, Women's Rights

In honor of Banned Books Week, I am sharing more about Ida Craddock , the heroine of my novel Censored Angel. Bright and studious, Ida was an unlikely woman to become the enemy of Anthony Comstock. Upon rejection from the University of Pennsylvania, she decided to carry out her own research. She chose as her topic Female Sex Worship, motivated by the question of why there were no women ministers. This research and the pain and abuse women at the time experienced in their marriages, led her to write, lecture, and distribute a series of sex education pamphlets, intended to help men and women experienceRead More →

Jane Grey Swisshelm

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In: 19th Century Women, Abolition, Activists, Authors, Civil War, Journalists, Women's Rights, Writing

JANE GREY SWISSHELM (December 6, 1815 -July 22, 1884) was a journalist, abolitionist, publisher, and advocate for women’s rights. Early Life Born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, she was raised by her widowed mother. Bright and energetic, she began as a teacher, but was drawn to journalism. After a difficult marriage to a farmer and a subsequent divorce, she moved to Minnesota and became editor and publisher of the St. Cloud Visiter. She was outspoken in her support of abolition, women’s rights, and against capital punishment. She was known to be full of righteous fury. For example, she hounded a Southerner who had moved to Minnesota withRead More →

Anna Cora Mowatt

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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 →