American Women Writers
Utopian and Dystopian Visions: Sicily and Engaging Italy
Monte Argentario, off the coast of southern Tuscany Emeralds in a sea of sapphire—gems among gemstones—to a romantic dreamer. To those...
A Sicilian Memoir: Simeti’s On Persephone’s Island
Mandarins and pears at an open market in Sicily. Photo: Andrew Malone , Wikimedia Commons via Flickr Mary Taylor Simeti’s memoir of...
The Past Hauntingly Repeats Itself? National Elections of 1844
George Perkins Marsh portrait engraving by H. B. Hall, reprinted in Life & Letters (1888) Title Page of Life & Letters...
A Valentine’s and Presidents’ Day Book: Precious and Adored
Cover of Laskey and Ehrenhalt's book, Precious and Adored Here's a book suited for both Valentine's and Presidents' Day. No, it's...
First Lady Rose Cleveland and Bishop’s Wife Evangeline Whipple: Later Vocations in Italy
Who knew that former US First Lady Rose Cleveland moved to the Tuscan town of Bagni di Lucca, Italy? Or that she lived there with...
Cultural Crossings in Denver: Union Station, Ume Tsuda & Others
A few photos on Denver’s Union Station in October prompted a friend to ask for more. My initial post focused on the warm and inviting lights...
Anne Hampton Brewster: Nineteenth-Century News from Rome
Think of Anne Hampton Brewster as a precursor to NPR's Sylvia Poggioli. American, female, news correspondent in Rome, writing stories followed by many in the US....
Let There Be Light: Leaning in to Change
We finally have a “new” antique light in our dining room. After 18-plus years of wanting to gaze upon something other than a 1970s Victorian...
Constance Fenimore Woolson and Zoar
Constance Fenimore Woolson Linking “utopian” communal groups and American women writers in Italy, I spoke last weekend on Constance Fenimore Woolson...
Vida Dutton Scudder, Christian Socialist for Several Generations
Yesterday my son, just returned from grad school, told me he's writing an essay on Vida Dutton Scudder. Before stating her name, he hesitated. Why...
