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Rosalie Sully
Rosalie and Charlotte are in a relationship from 1843 until 1845. Rosalie is the daughter of Thomas Sully who once painted the actress. She dies on July 8, 1847, in Philadelphia.
Harriet Goodhue Hosmer
Harriet Hosmer is one of the most well-known sculptors of the nineteenth century, esp. for The Sleeping Faun and Zenobia in Chains. Besides her art, she is most well known for masculine attire and activities. Both her father, "Dr." Hiram Hosmer, and…
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…
Mary Elizabeth "Eliza" Babbitt Cushman
Mary Elizabeth Babbitt Cushman is the second wife of Elkanah Cushman.
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.…
Rufus King
He is minister to Rome and is referred to as "ambassador" and "newspaperman" by Charlotte Cushman, who describes some meetings with his wife in her letters.
George Combe
He voiced his "concern" regarding Charlotte Cushman's private life. He is a phrenologist and the husband of Fanny Kemble's cousin and Sarah Siddons's daughter.
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Charlotte Cushman
Charlotte Cushman becomes widely known on both sides of the Atlantic as the first successful US-American actress. Earlier, she was a singer under the tutelage of James G. Maeder, married to actress Clara Fisher, in Boston. Charlotte has been the sole financial support of her mother since her father…