By Nava Atlas | On March 28, 2018 | Updated August 18, 2023 | Comments (0)
Edith Wharton (January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937), was born Edith Newbold Jones in New York City. One of the Grande Dames of American letters, everything about her — from her wealthy background to her stately demeanor — suggests a woman in possession of herself.
Beneath the surface, however, was a deep insecurity about her talent and abilities. Fortunately, it was one she gradually overcame in a substantial way.
Most of us have heard the expression “Keeping up with the Joneses.” But it might come as a surprise that this doesn’t refer to a hypothetical family, but Edith Wharton’s parents, George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Rhinelander Jones. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On March 27, 2018 | Updated February 5, 2024 | Comments (4)
Colette (January 28, 1873 – August 3, 1954) was a French author whose original name was Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. In her lifetime, she was known for her writing as much as for her sensational lifestyle.
Her mother, Sido, was her greatest inspiration. She allowed the young Colette to drink deeply from the well of life to gain experience and express her individuality.
Colette’s novels and stories featuring strong female characters were often inspired by her own experiences. Bold and sexually expressive, her stories were rather scandalous for their time, though the public loved them.
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By Nava Atlas | On March 27, 2018 | Updated February 14, 2026 | Comments (0)
Launching The Provincial Freeman, an abolitionist newspaper, in Windsor, Ontario, gave Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823 – 1893) the distinction of being the first woman publisher of any race or background in Canada, and the first Black woman publisher in all of North America.
In her role as editor and writer forThe Provincial Freeman, Mary Ann advocated for the Black community in the U.S. and Canada. She worked tirelessly to break down the dual barriers of race and gender.
Later an active participant in the women’s suffrage movement in the U.S., she also lectured widely on education and self-reliance. Later in life, she earn a law degree, becoming the second Black American woman attorney.
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By Terese Svoboda | On March 24, 2018 | Updated August 24, 2022 | Comments (0)
Lola Ridge (born Rose Emily Ridge (December 12, 1873 – May 19, 1941) was an Irish-American radical poet and editor.
“Anything that burns you” was the advice she gave English critic Alice Hunt Bartlett when she asked what poets should be writing in 1925. “I write about something that I feel intensely. How can you help writing about something you feel intensely?”
The New York Times declared her “one of America’s best poets” when she died, but her interest in radicalism, feminism, and experimental poetry wrote her out of literary history. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On March 22, 2018 | Updated August 17, 2022 | Comments (1)
Lydia Maria Francis Child (February 11, 1802 – October 20, 1880) was a prolific American author, social reformer, journalist, and abolitionist.
Born in Medford, Massachusetts, she was educated despite the disapproval of her father, a baker, who thought she ought not to read at all.
But Lydia’s appetite for learning was voracious, and the books she devoured were supplied primarily by her brother Convers Francis, who later became a Unitarian minister and professor at Harvard Divinity School. Read More→
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