Coverture is a legal principal that dates back to the Middle Ages and comes from a French term meaning “covered.” Imported to the American colonies as part of English common law, coverture had a significant impact on women’s lives.
VIEW
Puritan leader Cotton Mather gives young women advice on appropriate dress and behavior.
VIEW
This letter demonstrates that Russian colonial efforts relied on intermarriage between Russian traders and Native women.
VIEW
Two letters of Lucy Knox illustrate the trials and tribulations of women whose husbands left to fight in the war.
VIEW
Two works by artist Henrietta Johnston, the first professional female portraitist in the English colonies, illustrate the fashions and values of the eighteenth-century colonies.
VIEW
The indenture contract of nine-year-old Elizabeth Fortune reveals the opportunities available to young free black women in colonial New York.
VIEW
This portrait of an affluent colonial family illustrates the different expectations of boys and girls in the eighteenth century.
VIEW
This sampler and chatelaine reveal the skills and responsibilities of upper-class eighteenth-century women.
VIEW
This portrait shows how free Black women in Spanish Louisiana turned an oppressive law into a celebration of individuality and culture.
VIEW
A Dutch merchant woman who traveled the world before settling in Flatbush and opening a shop to sell luxury goods.
VIEW
