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This blog is the work of an educated civilian, not of an expert in the fields discussed.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

America's Joan of Arc

And Also: The last entry notwithstanding, problems should not blind one to good points -- such is the nature of human interaction. Thus, this thread provides some interesting thoughts on current executive power conflicts, including the importance of congressional action (proactive, not just reactive) in obtaining a proper balance.


It is an established truth that where the press is free, the people are free, and that, where freedom of the press is not known, the people are the slaves of depotism.

-- Anna E.D., letter to the Liberator in response to a Kentucky teacher being tarred and feathered for publishing an antislavery letter; she was thirteen and this was her first known public statement

Anna Elizabeth Dickinson was a well known orator during and in the decade after the Civil War, promoting radical causes in her own outspoken/independent minded way. As noted in J. Matthew Gallman's fairly interesting book, America's Joan of Arc (for her fiery pro-Union stance during the Civil War), she started as just a teenager, her public career shooting up remarkably quickly -- assisted by such luminaries as William Lloyd Garrison. This path was not too surprising given her Quaker background (which traditionally accepted women having a public role, speaking the truth) as well as the death of her father (a member of the local antislavery society) when she was only two.

[This led to an interesting dynamic, one surely not unique up to the present, where the women of the family were the dominant actors, though the two sisters had three brothers. The older sister ran the household, especially as the mother became elderly, and for years, the youngest was the primary breadwinner. Once Anna's success dropped off, the family dynamic grew more complicated, aggravated by the fact that she was at heart a loner ... though one with various (though generally short lived) friendships. As suggested below, this led to complications as she grew older.]

Anna became a model for many other women active in public life in the era, though her successful career (including financially) went in decline in the mid-1870s, and she is little known today. This provides a somewhat problematic job for the author of her life -- the last third of the book, therefore, is rather tedious and honestly pathetic. She fails at acting. Her health goes in decline, partially because she was depressed that her previous success has ended. After her mom dies at an old age, her sister even has her committed ... not without some cause, it seems, even if she was probably not truly insane. As these events go on, she and her sister is left to in effect begging for money from old friends, or those previously ridiculed such as Benjamin Butler, a failed suitor and former Civil War general.

And, eventually, she settles into fairly comfortable obscurity, living with a former servant of the rest private rest home Dickinson stayed in after being committed. This after getting some assistance -- showing the circles she ran in -- from William Seward's (Lincoln's Secretary of State) doctor son. The last decades of her life suggests some of the interesting themes found in the book. Some suggested that her (married) benefactor was her lover. And, quotes from various quite emotional letters from women fans written to her over the years clearly have a sexual quality to them. Talk of kisses, deep passionate emotions, and so forth. Anna herself never married and no romantic exploits with men are clear from the record, though the book suggests it is possible.

The author doesn't quite dwell on this sort of thing and it seems partially to be a reflection of the times when the sexes often had separate lives. Other themes covered -- the lyceum movement, political norms of the era, the split in the equal rights movement, and the nature of celebrity (including the widespread use of photography, including calling cards). The equal rights split was underlined by the Fourteenth (with the first explicit use of "male" in the Constitution) and Fifteenth Amendments, the latter especially galling to some because of the efforts of many women in antislavery cause. Dickinson accepted this path, not even voting when the 19th Amendment was passed in her old age.*

It ended on a tedious note, but overall, the book was an interesting short (bit over two hundred pages with a few pictures among the text) account of a little known figure and the milieu in which she lived. In this, Anna Elizabeth Dickinson was of interest in her own right (at least until the 1880s, when she became a tad pathetic ... though itself a reflection of other forces as well), but as a reflection of broader forces than herself. Thus, we have the makings of a worthwhile subject.

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* Ironically, a 2001 plaque in her memory misstated the facts, suggesting the 15th Amendment dealt with sex as well. The plaque, sponsored by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, also misstated the number of years she spent in her final residence plus suggested Lincoln himself (who she found too moderate) asked her to speak at the Capitol in 1864 (many top public figures, including members of Congress and the Vice President, remarkably did ask the twenty-one-year-old to speak there in honor of the Union cause). A bit skillful really that three sentences had three errors of varying importance.