In July 1899, Susan B. Anthony, who was nearly eighty, was in London for the International Council of Women. She wrangled a visit to Windsor Castle for the group: One day I said to Lady Aberdeen, “Now if this great Council were in Washington, I should certainly get an invitation for you to call on […]
Susan B. Anthony at the Queen’s Court Read More »
I love diaries, especially women’s diaries from the Civil War era, so when I saw a mention of the diary of Rachel Rosalie Phillips and found out where a transcript was held, I had to get a copy of it. It’s an account of a young woman’s stay in Washington, D.C., in 1864, when a
Rachel Goes to Washington: A Civil War Diary Read More »
In May 1855, American newspapers were abuzz with talk of a wedding. The bride and groom were not society folk or European royalty: they were Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell, abolitionists and women’s rights activists. Although in many ways their wedding ceremony was typical of the time—the bride wore a lovely dress, a clergyman performed the
The Marriage Protest: The Wedding of Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell Read More »
As you may know, I collect nineteenth-century photographs. I belong to a few Facebook groups on the subject, and quite often someone posts a photograph of a small boy in a dress, usually resulting in cries of “That’s a girl!” or, too often, “That’s horrible! He must have been humiliated!” In fact, dressing small boys
Victorian Boys in Dresses Read More »
For Women’s History Month, here’s a short piece I posted on Facebook about dress reformer, army surgeon, author, and eccentric Dr. Mary Edwards Walker (1832-1919). (She doesn’t appear in The Queen of the Platform, as I have no evidence that she and Ernestine Rose ever met, but it would have been fun to overhear a
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker Read More »
At long last, I’m pleased to say that The Queen of the Platform will be available on March 12, just in time for Women’s History Month! It can be found in paperback and e-book form at your favorite online bookstore or ordered in paperback through your local bookseller. Can’t wait to get my latest book
(This post originally appeared as a guest post on Linda Bennett Pennell’s blog, History Imagined.) In researching my historical novels set in nineteenth-century America, I have come across a number of people, now obscure, who deserve to be remembered for their heroism. One is David Ruggles, a black abolitionist. Born in Lyme, Connecticut, on March
From the Underground Railroad to the Water-Cure: David Ruggles Read More »
I recently visited England (my first visit in way too many years), partly to track down some residences associated with Ernestine Rose, the heroine of my forthcoming novel, The Queen of the Platform. Although Ernestine spent many years in New York City, none of her homes there have survived modern development, so it was a
Ernestine Rose’s English Lodgings Read More »
In 1870, the widowed Mary Lincoln and her son Tad, who had already been in one war zone in Washington, D.C., found themselves in another as France and Prussia faced off. After her husband’s assassination, Mary refused to return to Springfield, Illinois.[1] Although the Lincolns owned a home at Eighth and Jackson Streets there, and
An Unlikely Escort: The Dentist Who (Maybe) Helped Mary Lincoln Out of Frankfurt Read More »
In 1851, a new word entered the fashion lexicon: the “Bloomer.” It referred not to undergarments but to what had been known previously by such names as the “reform dress” and the “Turkish dress”: essentially, a short dress paired with pantaloons, in place of the constricting women’s garments of the day. It would become associated
The Bloomer Movement Read More »