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Life Story: Mary Ann Shadd Cary

Life Story: Mary Ann Shadd Cary Mary Ann Shadd Cary Mary Ann Shadd Cary. Courtesy of National Archives of Canada, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. This video was created by the New-York Historical Society Teen Leaders in collaboration with the Untold project. Mary Ann Shadd was born on October 9, 1823, in Wilmington, Delaware. Her father, Abraham, was a shoemaker. Her mother, Harriet, cared for the family home and raised their thirteen children. Mary Ann was their oldest child.  The Shadd family seemed like a typical middle-class, free Black family to outsiders, but they had a secret. Abraham and Harriet were part of the Underground Railroad, a network of activists who helped enslaved

2024-03-14T13:51:51-04:00
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Life Story: Margaret Haughery

Life Story: Margaret Haughery Margaret Haughery Margaret Haughery brooch, ca. 1885. The Historic New Orleans Collection, Gift of Leila Wilkinson Scheyd, 1988.50.2. Margaret Haughery monument George François Mugnier, Margaret Haughery monument, 1880-1910. The Historic New Orleans Collection, Gift of Samuel Wilson Jr., 1980.137.1. Margaret Gaffney Haughery was born in County Leitrim, Ireland, in the year 1813. She was fifth of the six children of William and Margaret Gaffney. William owned a small farm, but shortly after Margaret’s birth, he ran into hard times. Two years of bad weather left William and thousands of other Irish farmers unable to support their families. In 1818, William and his wife, Margaret, made

2024-03-14T13:46:09-04:00
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Nativism

Nativism Title Page of Awful disclosures of Maria Monk Maria Monk, Awful disclosures of Maria Monk, as exhibited in a narrative of her sufferings during a residence of five years as a novice, and two years as a black nun, in the Hotel Dieu Nunnery at Montreal (New York: Howe & Bates, 1836). New-York Historical Society. Document Text Summary Some of my readers may feel disposed to exclaim against me, for believing things which will strike them as so monstrous and abominable. To such I would say, without pretending to justify myself: you know little of the position in which I was placed; in the first place, ignorant of any other religious doctrines, and in the second, met at every moment by some

2024-03-14T13:42:44-04:00
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Depicting Domestics

Depicting Domestics The Intelligence Office William Henry Burr, The Intelligence Office, 1849. New-York Historical Society, Purchase, Abbott-Lenox Fund, 1959.46. "Employment Office" "Employment Office," 1866. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Between 1820 and 1860, approximately 1.65 million Irish people immigrated to the United States hoping to find prosperity in a new country, far from the famine and poverty that plagued their homeland. More than half of these immigrants were women. Many of these women were single and traveling alone in the hopes that they could start a new life.  Once in America, Irish women sought jobs that would allow them to support themselves and send money home to their

2024-03-14T13:41:43-04:00
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The First Lady of American Astronomy

The First Lady of American Astronomy Maria Mitchell “Maria Mitchell portrait with telescope,” 1847. NOAA Central Library. Maria Mitchell with her students "Vassar College astronomy class," 1878. Vassar College Archives and Special Collections, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Maria Mitchell was born and raised in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Her father taught her the basics of astronomy when she was young, and it became her lifelong passion. Maria rose to fame in 1847 when she was the first person to spot comet C/1847 T1. She was also the first woman admitted to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was a dedicated feminist who helped

2024-03-14T13:53:37-04:00
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Life Story: Dorothea Dix

Life Story: Dorothea Dix Dorothea Dix Dorothea Dix, 1848-1849. Marcus Aurelius Root; Houghton Library / Harvard University. Dorothea Dix was born in 1802 in Hampden, a town that would soon be part of the state of Maine. She was the eldest child of Joseph Dix and Mary Bigelow. Joseph was a traveling preacher and bookseller, so he was not home often. Mary suffered from an unknown illness that prevented her from taking proper care of her children. From an early age, Dorothea was responsible for caring for her two younger brothers. Later in her life, she told friends that she never had a childhood. When Dorothea was 12 years old, the three Dix children were sent to live with their grandmother in Massachusetts. Dorothea began teaching at a

2024-01-23T13:22:11-05:00
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“The Two Sexes”

"The Two Sexes" "The Two Sexes"  “'The Two Sexes,' Godey's Lady's Book, vol. 1, No. 300, p. 276,” 1830. Hathi Trust. Document Text Summary The Two Sexes The last number of the Ladies’ Magazine contains its usual variety of valuable and interesting matter. The following true and elegant paragraphs are extracted from an article by Mrs. Sigourney, whose mind is the dwelling of light and beauty. The following is an section from an article by Mrs. Sigourney in the Ladies’ Magazine. Her mind is full of light and beauty. “Man might be initiated into the varieties and mysteries of needlework; taught to have patience with the feebleness and waywardness of infancy, and to steal with noiseless step about the

2024-03-14T13:56:31-04:00
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Life Story: Elizabeth Cogley

Life Story: Elizabeth Cogley Elizabeth Cogley Elizabeth Cogley, n.d. Marley Creek Archives. Elizabeth Cogley was born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, in 1833. She grew up immersed in a world of reading and learning. Her parents, Joseph and Sarah Cogley, owned a book and stationary store. Joseph also distributed newspapers. From an early age, Elizabeth took an interest in current events and the world around her. When breaking news of the Mexican-American War was read aloud from the town post office steps, Elizabeth was always among the crowd, listening and learning. Elizabeth’s parents made sure she had a strong education. She first attended a “dame school,” a small school run by a woman out of her home. When Elizabeth outgrew the dame school, she attended

2024-03-14T13:45:15-04:00
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Climate Warning

Climate Warning “On the Heat in the Sun’s Rays” Eunice Foote, “On the Heat in the Sun’s Rays,” 1856. The American Journal of Science and Arts via Google Books. Document Text Summary Circumstances affecting the Heat of the Sun’s Rays by Eunice Foote My investigations have had for their object to determine the different circumstances the affect the thermal action of the rays of light that proceed from the sun. I am investigating how different air qualities affect the heat of the sun’s rays. Several results have been obtained.  First. The action increases with the density of the air. And is diminished as it becomes more rarified. The experiments were made with an air-pump and two cylindrical receivers of the same size, about four inches in diameter and thirty

2023-04-03T11:58:25-04:00
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Rules for Mill Workers

Rules for Mill Workers Regulations to be Observed by Persons Employed in the Boott Cotton Mills. Regulations to be Observed by Persons Employed in the Boott Cotton Mills, Lowell: B. H. Penhalllow, [1866]. Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, https://www.masshist.org/object-of-the-month/objects/regulations-to-be-observed-by-persons-employed-in-the-boott-cotton-mills-2012-03-01. Document Text Summary Regulations to be observed by persons employed in the Boott Cotton Mills. Rules for Boott Cotton Mill Workers The Overseers are to be punctually in their rooms at the starting of the mill, and not to be absent unnecessarily during working hours. They are to see that all those employed in their rooms are in their places in due season. They may grant leave of absence to those employed under them, when there are spare hands in the room to supply

2024-03-14T13:40:20-04:00
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