Before They Could Vote: American Women's Autobiographical Writing, 1819–1919Sidonie A. Smith, Julia Watson, Sidonie Smith Univ of Wisconsin Press, Aug 1, 2006 - 472 pages The life narratives in this collection are by ethnically diverse women of energy and ambition—some well known, some forgotten over generations—who confronted barriers of gender, class, race, and sexual difference as they pursued or adapted to adventurous new lives in a rapidly changing America. The engaging selections—from captivity narratives to letters, manifestos, criminal confessions, and childhood sketches—span a hundred years in which women increasingly asserted themselves publicly. Some rose to positions of prominence as writers, activists, and artists; some sought education or wrote to support themselves and their families; some transgressed social norms in search of new possibilities. Each woman's story is strikingly individual, yet the brief narratives in this anthology collectively chart bold new visions of women's agency. "This rich new anthology sets in motion an inter-textual conversation of remarkable vitality that will change the ways we understand gender, class, ethnicity, culture, and nation in nineteenth-century America."—Susanna Egan, author of Mirror-Talk |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 56
Page 12
... appeared originally in national magazines or newspapers, among them The Independent, The Atlantic Monthly, and the Boston Globe, and in local newspapers such as the Butte Evening News. By the 1850s an increasing number of women began to ...
... appeared originally in national magazines or newspapers, among them The Independent, The Atlantic Monthly, and the Boston Globe, and in local newspapers such as the Butte Evening News. By the 1850s an increasing number of women began to ...
Page 22
... appeared in the original front matter of each excerpt has been included if available. 6. Such personal stories were seen to give “authentic voice” to those confessing and, as Fabian points out, to persuade readers to accept their truth ...
... appeared in the original front matter of each excerpt has been included if available. 6. Such personal stories were seen to give “authentic voice” to those confessing and, as Fabian points out, to persuade readers to accept their truth ...
Page 32
... appeared in her , the nearer she approached her end , she became less turbulent . On the morning of her execution , at half past 10 o'clock , the Chaplain , in presence of Mr. Strong , in the most solemn manner addressed her on the ...
... appeared in her , the nearer she approached her end , she became less turbulent . On the morning of her execution , at half past 10 o'clock , the Chaplain , in presence of Mr. Strong , in the most solemn manner addressed her on the ...
Page 34
... appeared to be somewhat attentive. A hymn was then sung; after which, taking a final farewell of her sur- rounding friends, she was launched into eternity—not a murmur or a sigh escaped her—she died almost without a struggle. After ...
... appeared to be somewhat attentive. A hymn was then sung; after which, taking a final farewell of her sur- rounding friends, she was launched into eternity—not a murmur or a sigh escaped her—she died almost without a struggle. After ...
Page 43
... appearance was well calculated to excite a great degree of sympathy in a stranger, who had been partially informed of her origin, when comparing her present situation with what it probably would have been, had she been permitted to have ...
... appearance was well calculated to excite a great degree of sympathy in a stranger, who had been partially informed of her origin, when comparing her present situation with what it probably would have been, had she been permitted to have ...
Contents
3 | |
23 | |
37 | |
3 The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee1836 | 124 |
4 Selections from Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 18381839 1863 | 147 |
5 Transcription of Speech Given at the Akron Womens Rights Convention from the AntiSlavery BugleJune 21 1851 | 177 |
6 Selections from Youth from Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli 1852 | 180 |
7 Testimony Given in Canada 1855 | 202 |
The School Days of an Indian Girl 1900 | 315 |
An Indian Teacher among Indians 1900 | 328 |
Why I am a Pagan 1902 | 336 |
16 Nurslings of the Sky from The Land of Little Rain 1903 | 340 |
17 Mary MacLane Meets the Vampire on the Isle of Treacherous Delights 1910 | 347 |
18 The Promised Land from The Promised Land 1912 | 356 |
19 Lives in The Independent and the Question of Rac | 375 |
A Southern Woman | 376 |
8 A Brief Narrative of the Life of Mrs Adele M Jewel1869 Adele | 205 |
9 Selections from Her Journals 187478 | 219 |
Their Wrongs and Claims 1883 | 232 |
11 An Old Woman and Her Recollections as recorded by Thomas Savage 1877 | 243 |
12 Beginning to Work from A New England Girlhood1889 | 254 |
13 Looking Back on Girlhood 1892 | 270 |
14 The Club Movement among Colored Womenof America 1900 | 279 |
15 Sketches from The Atlantic Monthly | 298 |
Impressions of an Indian Childhood 1900 | 300 |
A northern woman | 382 |
A negro nurse | 390 |
My Flight Across the English Channel 1912 | 398 |
21 Autobiographical Essays | 405 |
Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian 1909 | 406 |
Sui Sin Far the Half Chinese Writer Tells of Her Career | 419 |
An Autobiography 1919 | 427 |
Bibliography | 447 |
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Common terms and phrases
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