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 70
Page 5
... Telling her story , she negotiates — sometimes with little , sometimes with discerning self - consciousness — the cultures ... tell stories . These identities and frames establish what goes into the text , as part of an intelligible and ...
... Telling her story , she negotiates — sometimes with little , sometimes with discerning self - consciousness — the cultures ... tell stories . These identities and frames establish what goes into the text , as part of an intelligible and ...
Page 10
... tell- ers or producers of print culture in very public ways . In his exploration of the history of the book in nineteenth - century America , David D. Hall suggests that “ several factors coalesced to bring about this transfor- mation ...
... tell- ers or producers of print culture in very public ways . In his exploration of the history of the book in nineteenth - century America , David D. Hall suggests that “ several factors coalesced to bring about this transfor- mation ...
Page 18
... tell- ing a complex story of empowerment and compliance at the California mission, to the Massachusetts mill worker Lucy Larcom chronicling her humble beginnings and rise to literary eminence, to Fannie Barrier Wil- liams's prominence ...
... tell- ing a complex story of empowerment and compliance at the California mission, to the Massachusetts mill worker Lucy Larcom chronicling her humble beginnings and rise to literary eminence, to Fannie Barrier Wil- liams's prominence ...
Page 29
... tell Mrs. Morris ; but I did tell her . They were in snuff coloured clothes , and wore large brimmed hats . Two weeks after , on Monday , I met these two men as I was going to market ; they asked me if I was married ? and I told them ...
... tell Mrs. Morris ; but I did tell her . They were in snuff coloured clothes , and wore large brimmed hats . Two weeks after , on Monday , I met these two men as I was going to market ; they asked me if I was married ? and I told them ...
Page 31
... tell the truth , and nothing else , she re- plied that she would , and then preceded as follows : — “ The statement I made in the Police - office was true — I DID set the house on fire MYSELF , but I was advised to do it by two men ...
... tell the truth , and nothing else , she re- plied that she would , and then preceded as follows : — “ The statement I made in the Police - office was true — I DID set the house on fire MYSELF , but I was advised to do it by two men ...
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 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
African American Allen asked autobiographical beautiful became began brother Butte called captivity narrative child Chinese clothes clubs Clute colored women cultural daughter Dawée death eyes Fanny Kemble father fear feel felt fire friends Gardow gave Genesee Genesee river girl hand happy Hardelot Harriet Tubman heard heart Hiokatoo horses husband Indians Jemison John knew labor land learned lived look married Mary Mary Antin Mary Hunter Austin Mary Jemison Mary MacLane miles mind morning mother narrative National negro never night paleface person poor preach Press prisoner race returned river Sarah Orne Jewett Sarah Winnemucca seemed sent sister slave social Sojourner Truth soon soul Southern spirit stood story tell thing Thomas thought tion told took town walk wigwam woman words writing York young