Customer Reviews

Kate Field: The Many Lives of a Nineteenth-Century American Journalist (Writing American Women)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

She was a trailblazer in more than one way. "Kate Field: The Many Lives of a Nineteenth-Century American Journalist" describes the life of one of the first journalists to gain celebrity status in her own right, in addition to being a pioneer female journalist and an advocate for black rights. She was friends with authors such as Charles Dickens and Mark Twain, and even became the inspiration for certain classic fictional characters. The extraordinary life of an extraordinary woman, "Kate Field" is a must-read for biography lovers.

Kate Field didn't rebel against the narrow boundaries for women of her day, she just didn't recognize them. She lived her life on her terms. Her artistic family gave her travel, a circle of creative friends and literary contacts. From this fortunate start she built her career.

It was a career in journalistic multimedia. She lectured, she wrote, she acted in traditional drama and performance art, she sang, and even had a clothing line. She was the spokeswoman for the telephone and for California wines. While she had many colleagues, she had no peers.

It could be for not having been associated with any one achievement, her name got lost somewhere in the clutter of history. What may be her most interesting studies, the Mormon Church and the "state" of the Alaska Territory were never published.

She rejected her Copperhead roots, but her political views were a mixed bag of progressivism and nativism. She was for limited sufferage for both men and women and an advocate for better access to the Chicago World's Fair for working people. She goes to Hawaii, touting her presumably open mind on whether it will be a territory or a kingdom

Author, Gary Scharnhorst thoroughly documents her story in this short book. The reference sources make the writing tend towards a reportorial style.