Ellen Hardin Walworth Believed in Learning from History

Ellen Hardin, author, lawyer and activist, was born on October 20, 1832. Not a time when empowering women was prevalent. She is a woman I admire because she believed in the importance of studying history and in historic preservation.

At the age of 20, Ellen married Mansfield Tracy Walworth, her stepfather’s youngest son. She had eight children with Mansfield but he was a violent man who physically abused her. The last assault was when she was pregnant with her youngest child, Sarah, and at that point, she obtained a “Limited divorce,” giving her the right to live separately but not remarry.

Unfortunately, Mansfield continued to threaten Ellen and, in 1873, her eldest son, Frank, shot his father to death and was sent to prison. Ellen studied law to find a way to get her son’s conviction overturned and was successful in 1877, on the grounds he was insane.

Needing a stable income for her family, Ellen opened the family homestead in Saratage, New York, as a boarding school for females and then later as a summer hotel.

Now, one would think this difficult, busy life would have been enough for Ellen, but like most great women, she strove to make the world a better place in many, many ways, which I will talk about in my next blog.

Puritans and Puritans

After a recent conversation, I find it necessary to once again explain that there were other Puritans than those that arrived on the Mayflower.

In 2020 we will celebrate the 1620 arrival of the Mayflower to this land. Of course, as a researcher and supporter of women, I applaud the Puritan women who made this treacherous journey, settled down in Plymouth and had many children so there are lots of descendants who will celebrate their Mayflower heritage. They were first and that is something to celebrate.

I hasten to say though, these are not the puritan women I researched and profiled in Female Adventurers. No, my women came a little later, in the 1630s, as part of the Great Migration orchestrated by John Winthrop. Many of them did not settle down. They saw as their mission spreading their puritanism across the land. Time after time, they uprooted their families and moved to start another town. I hope there will come a time when we can celebrate their sacrifices.

Life Gets in the Way

As the title says, life often gets in the way of good intentions. I cannot believe that it has been so  long since I have published a post on this blog. Shame on me.

With new energy, I intend to once again move forward in promoting women's history. Although most of my research, published works and lectures/workshops are on the women of the Great Migration, I will be adding presentations aout women from other times. 

Presently, I am using an article I did for the Cape Cod Genealogical Society on women in the Civil War as a basis for a workshop, entitled "From Where Comes Courage."

When I set out to research two women on opposing sides of the Civil War, I chose Sarah Edmonds and Loreta Velasquez because there were many researchers who totally debunked their accounts as untrue. I have found that where there is a story, there is usually at least a grain of truth to be found.


I will be presenting this workshop as part of the Osterville Library's summer historical series on the Civil War. Please check "Upcoming Presentations Page" for details.


Any questions, please email me at aliceplouchardstelzer@gmail.com

Educator Mary Lyons Was a “Mother of the Republic

“Clear thought and self-directed action toward righteous ends.” Mary Lyons

Mary Lyons (1797-1849) drew strength and resolve from her very difficult early life and followed the path from teacher, to student to educator to realize her bold dream of a higher education institution for women.

Fighting the current theory that education was harmful to women, Mary was seen as subversive as she valiantly fundraised for two years to provide an “affordable” education for females.

In 1837, 80 students were admitted to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, MA. They were instructed to bring a Bible, an atlas, a dictionary and two spoons (a dessert and a larger spoon). 

Thousands of women owe Mary Lyon a debt that must be repaid in improving the world.

To learn more about this incredible woman, go to 

http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=322.

Women's Equality Day 2015

I know there are some who will object to this special day commemorating women being able to vote because there are some people who don't see women as equals. This very fact that there are these dissenters makes me want to celebrate the few steps to equality women have made.

We have Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY) to thank for this day becoming official. In 1971, she requested the U.S. Congress designate August 26 as “Women’s Equality Day.”

The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote.

The history of this massive, peaceful civil rights movement is full of fascinating insights into how hard some individuals will work to hold on to their narrow views and how others will work even harder to change views in order to make a fairer society.

This movement had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York.

The observance of Women’s Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality. 

Were any of your grandmothers involved in the fight to get the vote for women?

Have you ever wondered how your neighbors view you?

Have you read the poetry of Emily Dickinson? I find it interesting to exam how the people during a person's life looks at an artist and how a future generation might view this artist with a different lens.

 "In 1882, Mabel Loomis Todd recorded her impressions of her mysterious Amherst neighbor. Emily Dickinson always wore white and had her hair arranged 'as was the fashion fifteen years ago.' 'She writes the strangest poems, and very remarkable ones,' Mrs. Todd noted in her journal, adding, 'She is in many respects a genius.'"

None of us would disagree that Emily Dickinson was a genius. Her remarkable poems are still being taught in schools. Since Dickinson lived the majority of her adult life in seclusion, one wonders how she could write such worldly material. When she died in 1886, her sister asked Mabel Todd to copy and edit the poems. In 1890 the first volume was published and the world discovered Emily Dickinson.

Would love to hear your views.

Some Things Never Change - Louisa May Alcott

Most of us have had bad times in our lives when we didn't know if we could go on or if we even wanted to go on but to find out that a creative talent like Louisa May Alcott had even considered suicide is a big surprise for me.

I am very jealous of her for her opportunity of living in such a time that she would have access to such incredible people as "Elizabeth Peabody boarded with the Alcotts, and John Brown’s daughter lived with them after Brown was hanged. Nathanael Hawthorne was a neighbor who didn’t get along with her father, Henry David Thoreau was her schoolteacher and Ralph Waldo Emerson lived next door. Bronson Alcott’s teaching assistants included Margaret Fuller and Dorothea Dix."

This quote is from the New England Historical Society. They do a really great job of promoting an interest in history. Read their full profile of Louisa May Alcott at
http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/louisa-may-alcott-shakes-blues