Women Whalers
You don’t hear about women whalers very often, even though they were not uncommon in the 19th century. In fact, Annie Osborn Anthony, daughter of a whaling captain from Martha’s Vineyard, had such a seafaring woman in her family. Today’s post references Annie’s sister-in-law Lucy Hobart Osborn, who will represent dozens of women who accompanied […]
Civil War Nurse Who Outranked General
For those who prefer to read, here’s the text of the video. I love Mary Ann Bickerdyke for her fierce devotion to the soldiers she called “her boys.” As a Civil War nurse, she was a particular favorite of the soldiers. Bickerdyke set up more than 300 field hospitals for soldiers and made sure they […]
Great American Women of Susan B.’s Era
During Women’s History Month we will use this space to celebrate several great American women who were comrades of Susan B. Anthony. (Click here for an earlier blog post on Women’s History Month.) Though Miss Anthony did not know all of them, each one came from her era and worked to make us a more […]
Visit Susan B. Re-enactor and biographer
Jeanne Gehret will be signing books at one of her favorite bookstores this Saturday, 3/24/17. Come say hello at Simply New York on Culver Road and find out why she hasn’t been blogging much lately.
Clarina Nichols: A Woman Alone
Clarina Nichols was a woman alone for most of her life. And some of the time she was married, she was miserable. Like D.R. Anthony, Nichols emigrated to Kansas in 1854 with one of the earliest parties of the Emigrant Aid Company. By the time she set foot in Kansas, D.R. had returned east to […]
The Lady Who Made This Big War
That is how Abraham Lincoln is said to have greeted Harriet Beecher Stowe when he met her many years after the publication of her shocking 1852 bestseller Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which gave slavery a face and a heart by telling it through the eyes of individuals. Read about Harriet, her book and its amazing success by clicking here.Even […]
Vineyard Woman with Nerves of Steel
Today’s heroine for Women’s History Month is Beulah Vanderhoop of Martha’s Vineyard, a maritime conductor on the Underground Railroad in the 1850s. She had the courage it took to assist as many as eight ex-slaves to safety and in my novel, profoundly affected Annie Osborn of Edgartown. Though Vanderhoop is firmly grounded in history, the […]
The death of Susan B. Anthony: when she retired her red shawl
Today we commemorate the death of Susan B. Anthony. According to Susan’s official biography, it was said that Washingtonians marked spring each year with two signs: the return of Congress to the nation’s capital and the return of Miss Anthony in her red shawl to lobby Congress. In her later years, the shawl was such […]
Half the Sky
You may know how these American women hold up half the sky: Elizabeth Cady Stanton Susan. B. Anthony Lucretia Mott Elizabeth Van Lew* Clarina Howard Nichols* Lucy Stone* Elizabeth Blackwell.* Clara Barton.* Elizabeth Ann Seton.* Antoinette Brown Blackwell.* (Names with asterisk are identified below)