Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1877) was a defining figure in the development of the women’s magazine. Her coverage of trends helped establish many of the customs and practices we see as tradition today
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Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today’s Journalist was a defining figure in the development of the women’s magazine. She was the editor of the most widely circulated publication in the pre-Civil War United States Her coverage of trends helped establish many of the customs and practices we see as tradition today. In fact, you probably already know her most famous piece of poetry by heart. Today, we’re talking about Sarah Josepha Hale.
Sarah was born in Newport, New Hampshire, in 1788. She was the third child born to Captain Gorden Buell, a Revolutionary War officer, and Martha Whittlesay Buell. Sarah inherited her father’s patriotic spirit, and her mother’s dedication to women’s education. Growing up, she was afforded the equivalent of a boy’s college education. Her mother began by teaching her at home. Later, when her brother Horatio attended Dartmouth, he would return and share his books with her. Partly because of these influences, Sarah lived the rest of her life with a firm belief in the importance of education regardless of gender.
In her early twenties, Sarah taught at a private school. Her time at school came to a close in 1813, when she met and married David Hale, an attorney. They often studied and read together, and David encouraged Sarah’s favorite pastime: writing. They had five children. Unfortunately, when Sarah was pregnant with their last child in 1822, David died suddenly of pneumonia.
Sarah was left widowed in her mid-thirties with five children to raise. It’s said that after David’s death, she wore black in mourning for the rest of her life. In order to support her family, Sarah opened a millinery shop. But it soon failed and Sarah decided she would make a living off of her love of writing instead.
Sarah began publishing in local magazines and newspapers, often under the pseudonym “Cordelia.” Her husband’s Freemason lodge took up the cost of publishing her first book of poems, called “The Genius of Oblivion,” just a year after David’s death. It was well received, but it was Sarah’s next work that really launched her career. In 1827, Sarah published “Northwood,” an anti-slavery novel. It received positive reviews and established her as one of the first women in the United States to be a published author.
“Northwood” caught the attention of Reverend John Lauris Blake, an episcopal minister who was starting a new women’s magazine. At the time, women’s magazines were a subset of American publications geared towards women readers, and they were quickly gaining steam. They hadn’t yet reached widespread circulation, but Blake had a vision for his magazine, which he called, “Ladies Magazine.” It would be marketed as the first magazine edited by a woman for women, and he wanted Sarah to become the publication’s editor.
Sarah accepted and moved to Boston to start the job. The first issue was published in January of 1828. It included essays, poetry, and fiction, as well as an original column from Sarah called “The Lady’s Mentor.” In it, she shared her views on femininity and promoted the idea of “separate spheres.”
Sarah believed men and women had different domains: men in the public and political sphere, and women in the home. As a result, Sarah opposed feminist causes like suffrage, and instead focused on empowering women within the “domestic sphere.” She supported the idea that women were inherently good, and that they should be educated in order to spread that goodness to men through careers like teaching and medicine.
Sarah was also invested in ensuring her magazine was firmly American. After discovering a British publication also called “Ladies’ Magazine,” Sarah renamed the stateside version “American Ladies’ Magazine”. She solely printed American fashion styles, which were muted compared to British illustrations, and even went so far as to stop printing fashion altogether rather than allow British styles on the pages.
Sarah revolutionized the occupation of writers in the U.S. Instead of following the playbook of other magazines of the time in reprinting British authors, Sarah solicited new, American-only writers. She published then-emerging writers Harriet Beecher Stowe, Susan B. Anthony, Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, to name a few. Since she paid authors for new works rather than reprints, Sarah was vital to the establishment of writing as a profitable occupation.
Sarah herself continued to write, too. During her time as editor, she published a variety of poems, plays, novels, and stories. In 1830, she published a book called “Poems for Our Children,” which included a now-timeless hit, “Mary Had A Little Lamb.” After her death, historians debated whether or not she plagiarized the work, but it is still widely attributed to Sarah. She also edited a children’s magazine for two years under a pseudonym.
In 1837, 10 years after Sarah became editor of Ladies’ Magazine, a man named Louis A. Godey bought the publication and changed its name to “Godey’s Ladies’ Book.” Sarah remained editor for another 30 years and the publication grew to be the most widely circulated magazine in the country.
Sarah grew her audience by keeping them up to date on current trends. In 1840, her reports on Queen Victoria’s wedding helped make the white wedding dress a standard. She was involved in the widespread proliferation of the Christmas tree, which she often included in art prints around the holidays. She may have been one of the first people to use the word ‘lingerie’ as a euphemism for undergarments.
Sarah even helped to create Thanksgiving as we now know it. . She petitioned to President Lincoln for a holiday of unity as the Civil War approached. In her column, she asked her readers to do the same. She also published recipes for now-staple foods like cranberry sauce, turkey, and potatoes.
In 1853, Sarah published her own encyclopedia of women, called the Women’s Record. It was over 900 pages long, featuring the biographies of more than 1500 women.
Sarah retired from Godey’s in 1877 at 89 years old. She died 2 years later in her home.
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Talk to you tomorrow!