Synopses & Reviews
Moving portraits of twelve courageous women who made Vermont what it is today
More than Petticoats: Remarkable Vermont Women profiles the lives of twelve of the state's most important historical figureswomen from across Vermont, from many different backgrounds and from various walks of life. With enduring strength and compassion, these remarkable women broke through social, cultural, or political barriers to make contributions to society that still resonate today. Read about:
Lucy Terry Prince, the legendary African American poet, pioneer, and public speaker who made an arduous journey on horseback to plead for an end to her family's harassment
Emma Willard, who endured harsh winters, financial fiascos, and meddlesome men as one of America's first advocates of womens education
Abby Maria Hemenway, who defied the incredulity of Middlebury College scholars to compile the history of every town in the state
Shirley Jackson, the celebrated writer who dared to expose the dark underside of New England small town life
Each of these women demonstrated an independence of spirit that is as inspiring now as it was then. Read about their extraordinary lives in this captivating collection of biographies.
Synopsis
More than Petticoats: Remarkable Vermont Women celebrates the women who shaped the Green Mountain State. Short, illuminating biographies and archival photographs and paintings tell the stories of women from across the state who served as teachers, writers, entrepreneurs, and artists.
About the Author
Deborah Pickman Clifford has lived in Vermont since 1966. A graduate of Radcliffe College, she has published three biographies of nineteenth-century American women: Julia Ward Howe, Lydia Maria Child, and the Vermont historian, Abby Maria Hemenway. Back in the 1980s she served as the first woman president of both the Vermont Historical Society and the Henry Sheldon Museum in Middlebury. She has also written and lectured widely on the history of Vermont women. Most recently, she and her husband, Nicholas, are the joint authors of The Troubled Roar of the Waters: Vermont in Flood and Recovery, 1927-1931, published by the University Press of New England in 2007. Residents of New Haven, a small town near Middlebury, the Cliffords have four daughters and six grandchildren.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Lucy Terry Prince, 1730-1821, Poet and Pioneer
Ann Story, 1741-1817, Pioneer and Patriot
Emma Willard, 1787-1870, Educating Women for the Republic
Clarina Howard Nichols, 1810-1885, A Womanly Reformer
Julia Caroline Ripley Dorr, 1825-1913, A Vermont Poet Laureate
Abby Maria Hemenway, 1825-1913, The Woman Who Saved Vermonts History
Rachael Robinson Elmer, 1878-1919, Independent Artist
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, 1879-1958, Novelist and Crusader
Electra Havemeyer Webb, 1888-1967, Born to Collect
Helen Hartness Flanders, 1890-1972, Green Mountain Ballad Collector
Consuelo Northrop Bailey, 1899-1976, Vermonts Own Daughter
Shirley Jackson, 1916-1965, Raising Demons in the Green Mountains
Selected References
About the Author