Browse Items (972 total)

Matilda Hays

Matilda Hays and Cushman meet "[s]ometime, probably after 1846" (Merrill 156). Hays plays the Juliet to Cushman’s Romeo in 1848, when Cushman's sister Susan plans to marry James Sheridan Muspratt. Hays is in a relationship with Charlotte Cushman in…

Emma Stebbins

Starting in 1857, Charlotte Cushman and Emma Stebbins enter a romantic relationship that lasts until Cushman's death. After her death, Stebbins writes an often cited biography about Cushman in which she collects "letters and memories."Cushman…

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…

"Women as Journalists" - Feature in The Freeman. A National Colored Weekly Newspaper, Feb 23, 1889.

The article, marked as a reprint from The New York Journalist, describes several Black women's careers and achievements as journalists, among them Gertrude Mossell and Lillian A. Lewis. Author Lucy Wilmot Smith begins by highlighting the neglect of…

Letter from Anne Whitney [to Edward], Feb 27, 1876

Anne Whitney writes that she has learnt of Charlotte Cushman's death via telegram Credit Wellesley College Archives, Papers of Anne Whitney (MSS.4): Correspondence. 48.

Letter from Anne Whitney, Mar 23, 1869

Anne Whitney's letter offers another perspective on Harriet Hosmer's participation in fox hunts in Rome and the rift this caused with Charlotte Cushman (see also Merrill 236). Whitney tells the recipient about an English woman who frames Hosmer's…

Letter from Anne Whitney to Sarah Whitney, April 30 - May 13, 1868

Anne Whitney shares intimate knowledge about acquaintances and discusses aspect of Rome's infrastructure and nature. She reports that Charlotte Cushman and Emma Stebbins leave Rome and announces Cushman's readings in the coming fall. Apparently,…

Waters' Charlotte Cushman (1882)

The biography is part of an American Actor Series. It focuses on Cushman's stage career and includes letters, lists of performances and casts, advertisements of Cushman's performances, as well as articles. The Fields are, for instance, not mentioned.…

Wallack's Memories of Fifty Years (1889)

Wallack presents himself grateful to Charlotte Cushman who was supportive of him as an actor. Credit Hathi Trust

Mrs. Walker's Reminiscences of the Life of the World-Renowned Charlotte Cushman (1876)

The biography traces Cushman's successful career and mentions many business partners and friends. However, it excludes every references to Cushman's same-sex relationships. It is published after Charlotte Cushman's death.The Cushman-Macready-…

Vandenhoff's Leaves from an Actor's Note-Book; With Reminiscences and Chit-Chat of the Green-Room and the Stage, in England and America (1860)

Same text but different page no. published as Dramatic Reminiscences; or, Actors and Actresses in England and America (1860, London, T. W. Cooper).The autobiographical text was translated by A. v. Winterfeld and published in German as Blätter aus dem…

Letter from Rosalie Sully to Charlotte Cushman, May 11, 1845

Rosalie Sully writes to Charlotte Cushman. Rosalie is heart-broken since the two had to go separate ways. To show her love, she is still wearing a ring and bracelet that Cushman gave her last summer. Rosalie is referring to a pledge on July 6, 1844,…

Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Mrs Stowe and Her Neighbors in Rome," Lowell Daily Citizen and News, July 23, 1860

Originally, the article was published in the New York Independent on July 12, 1860. Stowe describes social gatherings in Via Gregoriana in Rome. She explicitly mentions Cushman's household, Stebbins, and Hosmer, who are living together. The short…

Letter from Emma Stilwell to Charlotte Cushman, June 21, 1875

In this partially disjointed letter, Stilwell tells Cushman about her own childhood dreams of becoming an actress, growing up in a Methodist family. Being 31 now, she is teaching in a district school for meager wage and asks Charlotte for advice on…

Stillman's The Autobiography of a Journalist (1901), Vol. 1

Charlotte Cushman is mentioned on pages 359-365.Cushman and her "clique" (365) included Miss Stebbins, Harriet Hosmer, "and one or two others of lesser fame" (359).He states that she used her fame or even Stillman (critic) to denounce other sculptors…

Emma Stebbins to Anne Whitney, August 5, 1879

Stebbins tells Whitney how happy she is that their friendship still remains to this day and that Anne Whitney keeps up the correspondence. She then responds to Whitney's comments on art and how hard it is to learn from mistakes in sculpture since one…

Letter from Emma Stebbins to Dennis Alward, April 12, 1878

Emma Stebbins mentions her financial concerns as she has been "cut off, with all the annuitants — by the estate stopping payment for six months." Stebbins hopes "to make a little something out of the Book" referring to the biography of Charlotte…

Letter from Emma Stebbins to Emma Crow Cushman, Nov 23, 1874

Stebbins writes that the newspapers have been writing "exaggerated reports" about Cushman, which have been causing her great anxiety. An unfavorable paragraph about Cushman will appear in the Cincinnati Enquirer the following morning, which they have…

Letter from Emma Stebbins to Emma Crow Cushman, [Oct] 26, [1869]

Stebbins writes about their strenuous journey to Malvern and the mishaps along the way. They had to stop over in Carlisle but have arrived safely in Stockport. She asks Emma Cushman to arrange for lodging in Malvern, preferably at Knotsford…

Letter from Emma Stebbins to Emma Crow Cushman, Sep 11, [1869]

Stebbins writes about Cushman's deteriorating health. The opiates are causing her to feel discouraged and she has also been in a lot of pain due to an abscess in her chest.Stebbins feels disheartened at witnessing Cushman's suffering and states that…