American History
Fanny Palmer: The Norman Rockwell of the Nineteenth Century?
If you grew up in the United States, you probably are familiar with the work of artist Frances Flora (Fanny) Bond Palmer (1812-1876), even though I suspect you’ve never heard of her. Fanny Palmer was born in Leicester, England, where she received her first training in art, specifically drawing, perspective and watercolor, at Mary Linwood’s…
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Berenice Abbott takes New York’s Portrait
These days I’m hanging out a lot with Bohemians (or possibly that should be bohemians) in New York at the turn of the century: radicals, reformers, artists, and a handful of people who are just plain weird. In the process, I am coming across interesting people doing fascinating things. Case in point: photographer Berenice…
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Lydia Pinkham: Women’s Health Entrepreneur
I recently spent a week in Maine, visiting my BFF from graduate school. We indulged in history nerdery. We binge-watched Ride or Die on Netflix.[1] We ate great food. And we talked about the ideas that are driving me these days: women artists, women entrepreneurs, and what a young woman from the Midwest would have…
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