This 1842 silhouette portrait of Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879) by Auguste Edouart appeared in an exhibition of Silhouette in the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC.
Sarah Josepha Buell Hale wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” the nursery rhyme that many know by heart, and she also campaigned for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday. While these accomplishments may have more cachet today, during Hale's lifetime, she was best known as the editor of Godey's Lady's Book.
Godey's Lady's Book was a monthly subscription journal that existed for forty years and reached as many as 150,000 subscribers at its peak. Exerting influence on middle-class women, Godey's inspired and reinforced their taste in reading, fashion, and domestic activities. And, while other journals published primarily British fiction, Hale promoted American writers. She believed that women shaped their families' morals, and she encouraged women writers to generate stories that reinforced this role.
Hale, who helped found Vassar College and advocated for women's education, also championed national unity and the end of slavery during her tenure at Godey's. -- NPG
Sarah Josepha Hale
Philadelphia
Oct. 22nd 1842
Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale
Philadelphia 19th Octob. 1842
The Good House Keeper and Editor of the Ladies Book.
This engraving of Sarah J. Hale appeared as the frontispiece of her 1855 book, Woman's Record; or, Sketches of all Distinguished Women, from the Creation to A.D. 1854. Arranged in Four Eras. With selections from female writers of every age.
Truly yr. friend
Sarah J. Hale
Judith Freeman Clark at the Richards Free Library gives us this portrait of Sarah Hale:
Cf. Mary's Lamb in Poems for Our Children, 1830.
Cf. Mary's Lamb in Poems for Our Children, 1830.
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