Boston Daily Advertiser, Charlotte Cushman, Feb 19, 1876
Dublin Core
Title
Boston Daily Advertiser, Charlotte Cushman, Feb 19, 1876
Subject
Cushman, Charlotte Saunders, 1816-1876
Death
Praise
Boston Daily Advertiser
Description
The article is an obituary published one day after Cushman's death. It praises the actress and her achievements and performances. Additionally, it speaks about Cushman's relationships with women as her "power of attaching women to her."
In 1871, Cushman asked Annie Fields for James Fields to publish an article in Cushman's favor in the Boston Daily Advertiser.
In 1871, Cushman asked Annie Fields for James Fields to publish an article in Cushman's favor in the Boston Daily Advertiser.
Credit
Publisher
Boston Daily Advertiser
Date
1876-02-19
Type
Reference
Article Item Type Metadata
Text
"CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN
Miss Cushman's death makes vacant a place In art which there is no one to fill. She won and held the highest honors as a tragedienne, but It was impossible to separate her life from her art, or the woman from the actress. As she advanced in noble acting, she advanced in noble living; and, at the height of her great artistic successes, she was no generous and magnificent a woman that the noblest dramatic representation seemed only her natural expression. On the stage and off she was essentially the same, putting her heart and her power into whatever she had to do. She was endowed with a strong and brilliant mind, an unconquerable will, keen wit and exquisite sense of fun. To these were added a conscience that made her a severe student, and energy that made her a tireless worker. Strong as she was physically, disease beset her with open or insidious attacks, and her defence was long and heroic,-never did human will and human frame sustain a more persistent siege, never did they offer more gallant defence. Long after anybody else would have yielded to pain, she pursued her art, acting with her accustomed power and with no faltering. It helped her, she said, to forget herself; for the time she was Lady Macbeth, Queen Katherine, or Meg Merrilies, and with her personality her pain was lost for the time. All through the last weeks of her life she has for a portion of every day received her friends, and been the most graclous hostess; never alluding to her own health unless asked, and then putting the subiect aside as soon as possible, and talking of the events of the day, of literature, art and people with the warmest interest and the most sparkling vivacity. Often she would pause, her face would flush or grow pale, and pain would for a moment cloud her eyes and make her shiver, but not one word of it would she say, and directly would go on in the old, brave, cheerful way. It was admirable, but infinitely touching. Miss Cushman possessed in a remarkable degree the power of attaching women to her. They loved her with utter devotion, and she repaid their love with the wealth of her great, warm heart. Young girls gave her genuine hero-worship, which she received with a gracious kindness that neither encouraged the worship nor wounded the worshipper; mature women loved and trusted her wholly; to the last hour of her life she had the perfect service of the purest friendship, and, beyond that, numbers of noble women waiting to give and receive unfailing sympathy and affection. Miss Cushman's triumphs have been great, but the greatest of them was the character that won such friends. Laurels for the actress will lie thick upon her grave, but they will be wet with the tears of those who mourn for the loving friend,- the heroic woman."
Miss Cushman's death makes vacant a place In art which there is no one to fill. She won and held the highest honors as a tragedienne, but It was impossible to separate her life from her art, or the woman from the actress. As she advanced in noble acting, she advanced in noble living; and, at the height of her great artistic successes, she was no generous and magnificent a woman that the noblest dramatic representation seemed only her natural expression. On the stage and off she was essentially the same, putting her heart and her power into whatever she had to do. She was endowed with a strong and brilliant mind, an unconquerable will, keen wit and exquisite sense of fun. To these were added a conscience that made her a severe student, and energy that made her a tireless worker. Strong as she was physically, disease beset her with open or insidious attacks, and her defence was long and heroic,-never did human will and human frame sustain a more persistent siege, never did they offer more gallant defence. Long after anybody else would have yielded to pain, she pursued her art, acting with her accustomed power and with no faltering. It helped her, she said, to forget herself; for the time she was Lady Macbeth, Queen Katherine, or Meg Merrilies, and with her personality her pain was lost for the time. All through the last weeks of her life she has for a portion of every day received her friends, and been the most graclous hostess; never alluding to her own health unless asked, and then putting the subiect aside as soon as possible, and talking of the events of the day, of literature, art and people with the warmest interest and the most sparkling vivacity. Often she would pause, her face would flush or grow pale, and pain would for a moment cloud her eyes and make her shiver, but not one word of it would she say, and directly would go on in the old, brave, cheerful way. It was admirable, but infinitely touching. Miss Cushman possessed in a remarkable degree the power of attaching women to her. They loved her with utter devotion, and she repaid their love with the wealth of her great, warm heart. Young girls gave her genuine hero-worship, which she received with a gracious kindness that neither encouraged the worship nor wounded the worshipper; mature women loved and trusted her wholly; to the last hour of her life she had the perfect service of the purest friendship, and, beyond that, numbers of noble women waiting to give and receive unfailing sympathy and affection. Miss Cushman's triumphs have been great, but the greatest of them was the character that won such friends. Laurels for the actress will lie thick upon her grave, but they will be wet with the tears of those who mourn for the loving friend,- the heroic woman."
Provenance
"Charlotte Cushman." Boston Daily Advertiser, 19 Feb. 1876. Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/GT3006544352/NCNP?u=bayreuth&sid=NCNP&xid=d9f46e82. Accessed 5 Feb. 2020.
Location
Boston, MA, US
Geocode (Latitude)
42.3602534
Geocode (Longitude)
-71.0582912
Social Bookmarking
Geolocation
Collection
Citation
“Boston Daily Advertiser, Charlotte Cushman, Feb 19, 1876,” Archival Gossip Collection, accessed April 19, 2024, https://archivalgossip.com/collection/items/show/159.