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 »
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 »
(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 »
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 »
In nineteenth-century London (and apparently into the 1960s), it was possible for the venturesome to climb all the way to the interior of the golden ball surmounting St. Paul’s Cathedral in London (right below the cross). One of those who made the effort was the intrepid feminist Ernestine Rose, who along with her husband was
Within the Golden Ball of St. Paul’s Read More »
Ernestine Rose, the subject of my novel-in-progress, was a contemporary of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Ernestine was much closer to Susan B. Anthony, who accompanied Ernestine to Washington, D.C., in 1854, defended Ernestine against those who would have kept her off the platform because of her open atheism, and visited Ernestine, a
Early feminist Ernestine Rose, the heroine of my novel-in-progress, and her husband William changed residences multiple times during the more than 30 years they resided in New York City, which means that they frequently had to cope with what was known as Moving Day. Until well into the 20th century, most residential leases in New
Moving Day: New York Style Read More »
I couldn’t resist this charming poem and accompanying illustrations, apparently given as a contribution to a scrapbook in the early 1860s. (Sadly, I have only this page, not the rest of the scrapbook.) In case you have difficulty reading the poem, here’s a transcription: I’ve been requested in this bookTo write lines old or newBy
Girl-Watching on Fifth Avenue Read More »