Browse Items (972 total)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

In a letter from Elizabeth to her sister Arabel Malton Barrett from October 22, 1852, Browning describes the relationship between Charlotte Cushman and Matilda Hays a "female marriage."The Brownings lived in Italy for some time, in Florence (Casa…

Sallie Mercer [dates unknown]

Sallie Mercer starts working as a maid for Charlotte Cushman at around age 14 in 1844. She is the only one to accompany Cushman on her first trip to England and will stay with her until her death. Over these three decades, Mercer takes on several…

Anne Hampton Brewster

Anne Hampton Brewster is an American novelist, journalist and foreign correspondent. She is born to Maria Hampton and Francis Enoch Brewster. In the 1840s, Brewster and Charlotte Cushman meet in Philadelphia, where Cushman is manager of the Walnut…

Sarah Josepha Hale

Hale is an important business partner and friend of Cushman, as Hale becomes the editor of Godey's in 1837. She is Godey's editor for fourty years, from 1837-1877.

Geraldine Endsor Jewsbury

She writes several novels, among which Half Sisters (1848) is her most famous one. It comments on Victorian society and gender norms. The character Bianca, an actress who is half Italian, is said to be loosely based on Charlotte Cushman with whom…

Mary Howitt

Charlotte Cushman and Mary Howitt become friends at an early stage of Cushman's career in England. Mary writes an autobiography and a journal. In 1846, she publishes her article on the Cushman sisters, which is titled "The Miss…

Romeo and Juliet Performance, Haymarket Theatre, London, Dec 30, 1845

Charlotte Cushman performs as Romeo and her sister takes over the role of Juliet.Cushman's performance as Romeo is generally met with wild enthusiasm. There were, however, also critical voices, among them Mary Russell Mitford (1787-1855). Mitford was…

Diary Entry by Anne H. Brewster about the Breakup of Charlotte Cushman and Matilda Hays

The complete diary entry for June 5, 1876 is 24 pages long and details the time Harriet Hosmer and Anne H. Brewster spent together. The last eight pages (transcribed here) recount, how Hosmer witnessed the passionate breakup of Charlotte Cushman and…

Final New York Performance on Nov 7, 1874

Charlotte Cushman performs for Booth's Theater in New York for the last time. She acts as Lady Macbeth on stage together with George Vandenhoff among others. Credit Newspaper.com(article only attached as illustration)

Elkanah Cushman

Cushman is a merchant of the West Indies trade. Elkanah Cushman is Charlotte Cushman's father and married to Mary Elizabeth Babbitt.

Mary Elizabeth "Eliza" Babbitt Cushman

Mary Elizabeth Babbitt Cushman is the second wife of Elkanah Cushman.

Poem by Cushman about Macready, The Anglo American, Jan 1844

Cushman writes the poem in December 1843 and publishes it in January 1844. There is no entry in Macready's diary, and it is unclear how Macready reacted to Cushman's lyrical praise. CreditEBSCO

Howitt's The Miss Cushmans (1846)

In this biographical article, Mary Howitt recounts events from Charlotte Cushman's life and emphasizes her personal virtues, her talent on stage and the struggles she faced in her career. She describes Cushman's long and painful struggle to success,…

Robert Browning

Robert Browning is married to Elizabeth Browning. Both live for some time in Italy, in Florence and Rome. They are friends with Charlotte Cushman, Harriet Hosmer, Isa Blagden, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Emma Stebbins is hardly ever mentioned at…

Henry Fothergill Chorley

Chorley is a musical critic who writes for The Athenaeum. He also writes plays, e.g., "Duchess Eleanor" for which he asks for Cushman's support. When Charlotte Cushman performs as Queen Katherine after Rosalie's death, starting in October 1847,…

Helen Hunt Jackson

Hunt addresses Charlotte Cushman as "Regina" or her "Queen" in the letters she writes between 1869 and Cushman's death. Cushman repeatedly tells Hunt that she loves her and admires her for her literary work.Hunt is known as "HH" to the public and…

William Wetmore Story

William Wetmore Story is critical of CC and her circle, Lisa Merrill describes him as Cushman's "adversary" (Merrill, When Romeo Was a Woman, p. 231). He is US consul in Rome before Cushman's nephew Ned Cushman takes over after Lincoln's re-election.…

William James Stillman

US consul to Rome 1861-1865