Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) was a “feminist” before the word existed.
Fuller’s father rigorously educated his eldest child as if she were a son, bestowing on her a formative belief in the gender-equality of the mind and spurring her own career as a teacher. In her thirties, Fuller’s erudite reputation preceded her as a leader in the emerging Transcendentalist movement, a philosophy that revitalized the role of the individual in society in the decades preceding the American Civil War. Along with Elizabeth Peabody, Sophia Ripley, Abigail May Alcott, and Lidian Emerson, Fuller was among those women who actively shaped Transcendentalism and used its impetus to further social aims.
It should come as no surprise that the early laws of this country were derived from English laws, or that those laws were written exclusively by men for men. While Concord of the 19th century was relatively progressive, a wife was still considered merely an extension of her husband, and the laws did not provide her with the right to vote as an individual. Men felt it was good enough for them to cast a vote for both husband and wife, while unmarried women or women of color simply had no say at all.
On a rainy morning in early May, in the small back parlor of 13 West Street, Boston, a wedding was about to take place. It would be the second wedding for the Peabody family in less than a year, and while 38-year-old Elizabeth could certainly claim an intimate relationship with each of the handsome grooms, she would be bride to neither.
We all know the old adage, “Behind every great man there is a great woman.” In fact, throughout history many women have distinguished themselves just as much as their men. Women such as Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, Eleanore Roosevelt, or Jackie Kennedy were a force to be reckoned with in their own right, their place in history assured. Here in Concord, our “Two Revolutions” revolved around the names Ripley, Emerson, Hawthorne, and Thoreau. But these great men were surrounded by equally impressive and influential women, who also played a pivotal role in our nation’s history. We would like to share a few of their stories here…
