I have loved reading your biographies and definitely stories that needed to be told. I've learned so much from your writings and it's encouraged me to start my biography of another hidden woman, Gwen Frostic. Thank you for always sharing, Susan!
I just looked up Gwen Frostic--there's not a lot about her, but enough to see that she was an accomplished woman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwen_Frostic I hope you will write about her, Nancy, whether it's biographical fiction or biography. She sounds like an ideal subject!
I don't have the talent for fiction, biographical or otherwise, but if I could, I would write about Margaret McDonald, an incredible woman who was in the shadow of both Samuel Howe and Julia Ward Howe. I've presented in academic circles on her life, and have vague thoughts of a book someday... but, I've not written one book, let alone that sort of project, so it's unlikely.
Margaret lived in Boston in the mid-1800s, was matron of the first publicly funded school for children with intellectual disabilities, and did some pretty incredible things professionally and in terms of social change. Within the niche history of special education, her work is entirely attributed to Samuel Howe and to other prominent men of the time. Even more fascinating, to me, is that she parallel-worked /for/ the Howes as domestic in terms of caring their own children, as needed, even while running the school. Julia Ward Howe references her occasionally (she called her "Donald") in her own letters -- but despite the ways one might think two socially active women would bond as equals, never (that I have yet found) refers to her as anything other than a helper / in child-care capacities. There was a significant class difference there, as well, that likely played a part. Margaret McDonald was of Scottish immigrant roots, widowed young with children of her own, and working hard for her living.
Such as, Julia Ward Howe's letter to her sister, 1854 -- "See that your children get measles young. Baby suffered very little. Each older one was worse in proportion to the comparative age. Donald has passed the whole week here, day and night.” -- which happened, somehow, while Margaret McDonald was also heading a boarding school full of young children with developmental and medical needs.
The Howe children remembered her this way as well, as written by daughter Laura: “First of all, perhaps, I should put the dear old Scotch lady whom we called “D. D.” She had another name, but that is nobody’s business but her own. D. D. was a thousand years old. She always said so when we asked her age, and she certainly ought to have known. No one would have thought it to look at her, for she had not a single gray hair, and her eyes were as bright and black as a young girl’s. … D. D. was a wonderful nurse; and when we were ill she often came and helped our mother in taking care of us. Then she would sing us her song,—a song that no one but D. D. and the fortunate children who had her for a friend ever heard.”
I don't have any pictures of her, just of one of her sons, and have barely scratched the surface of the records that I know are out there.
Naomi, thank you for this charming tribute to a woman who was clearly a mainstay in what must have been a troubled family. Would Julia have been able to publish her work and pursue her activism without DD's help? Judging from what you say in this short bit, you've already done substantial research. I hope you find a way to get DD's story out into the world, beyond the usual academic circles. It deserves to be told, and you sound like an ideal tale-teller!
Thank you, Susan! I think that she and I both wish she had been assigned a better storyteller -- but perhaps it will come together one day.
In the meantime, I'm going to follow a bit of inspiration from your reply, your wonderful books, and this substack, and gather my scattered snippets of life stories of individuals with disabilities from their different social media spots and into a nascent substack of their own. Who knows, it might just help me find a writing groove. 😁
All the fascinating women mentioned in the comments so far. I'm intrigued. I love reading about read people. In Someone Always Nearby I had to keep remindiing myself of the times and women's roles and rights. That explained some behaviors that might not happen today. I'm looking forward to the discussion. So many books. Laurie King is another writer who, although her work is fiction, writes always about women protagonists. Her series on Mary Russell, young wife of Sherlock Holmes is a treat. I'm ready to dive into Toksvigs almanac too. So many women we need to know more about.
We all have a lot of catching up to do! And with the internet, there's a flood of information--a challenge to sort through it all and find what's important.
I enjoy Laurie King, too. The extension of fictional characters into new fictions is another interesting topic to think about. I enjoyed working with Beatrix Potter, whose real life was truly quite incredible.
Thanks, Alan. Each project presented a different kind of research and writing challenge--and all very different from the genre fiction. I see that you and I aren't so far apart in age. Maybe you remember the Eisenhower/Summersby episode as it emerged in the media after the war?
Interesting. I looked around and asked Open AI Chat to do some digging and it couldn't come up with anything either. I wonder if the Rosalind Franklin story maybe has more appeal because the 3 guys who won the Nobel so clearly ignored her work--and because she died so tragically young. Looks like Lyon had a long and satisfying career. Raises (for me) the always intriguing question: what makes a story saleable in the contemporary book market? (Not that I'm looking for a new project, just thinking out loud here.)
Wow! Thank you for this post! I absolutely love reading about Women in History and one of my other favorite authors is Marie Benedict. Speaking of Rosalind Franklin, she wrote: HER HIDDEN GENIUS which was excellent, but yes, it made me mad! I also like all of Marie Benedict's other books. Phillipa Gregory has a book coming out on February 28th titled NORMAL WOMEN about Women in History. And I do have all of your books, but I do need to read your SOMEONE ALWAYS NEARBY. Thank you for all that you're doing to bring Women in HERstory to us!
I like Benedict, especially her choice of projects. She has a supportive publisher, too--one that works with book clubs and book club PR. I just wish she would dig a little deeper. There's more to the story. I especially felt this with her book on Hedy Lamarr--although I also have to say that there's a limit to the kind of research a writer can do on a subject like Lamarr.
Thanks for the mention of Gregory's book. I'll look for it. Gregory is one who really, really digs deep. She TUNNELS. I admire her work.
I agree with you on Benedict. I'm sure they're limited by the number of words and pages, right? But someone like GREGORY obviously can write as much as she wants to. Her new book is 688 pages.
They're writing in different genres for different markets. While she tackles historical subjects, Benedict is writing for American book club readers, typically women, in mainstream fiction, where books seldom exceed 340 pp.
Gregory writes for an international market in historical fiction, where there is essentially no limit. Hilary Mantel's Mirror and the Light is 784 pp--and we could find longer examples. So yes, Benedict's word count is limited, but there are other reasons for what we're talking about. Have to say, though, that the Lamarr book was early. I haven't continued to read her.
If you haven't already come across it, you might be interested in a book called "Toksvig's Almanac 2021: An Eclectic Meander Through the Historical Year" by Sandi Toksvig. Despite the title it is not about 2021, it contains stories about amazing women forgotten by history.
Colette, thanks for this! Toksvig is new to me. I've just downloaded a sample of this book. I've been thinking about doing something like this myself here at Substack--I'm eager to see how this author approaches the project. I'm VERY grateful to you for pointing her out.
Penny, I think you're right. We would all love to know more about the how/where/when/who/why of books we're interested in. In print, the distance between writer and reader is just too great to bridge. But platforms like Substack make that easier. Hope we can see more of these conversations!
I haven't read the other hidden women books but they are on my list. I thought this unique approach to women's stories was quite clever. I think about the grandmothers who help their daughters and DILs with grandchildren as a kind of hidden woman relationship but even that has changed. My friend is a professional therapist and when her sons/DiLS produced six children in a ten year span, they started to have expectations about my friend's role and she quickly announced that she was not going to do childcare at a drop because she has a thriving practice. Women and their stories are so interesting.
Had to smile at this, Sue: I know 2 other grandmothers who have had to draw the line--each a different story. Which reminds me to say that each of us has hidden stories (plural). Sometimes those hidden stories dominate a woman's life. Those are the ones that interest me the most.
Have read 3 of the Hidden Women series- looking forward to reading about Kaye Sommersby and Mamie. Greatly enjoyed them. I always enjoyed getting my History from historical fiction and appreciate these "more truth than fiction" fictional biographies. More,please!!
Kay was interesting to me because there was such an effort to remove all traces of her from Ike's life--and yet they (the staff, the family) were confronted by the living fact of her, here in the U.S. and often in the newspapers. It got especially dodgy in 1952, when he was running for president and there were rumors of letters.
I'm not sure I want to tackle another bio novel. But I'm thinking about a Substack series of short pieces. The topic intrigues me.
I read this post, and every comment. I’d love to see some of the women suggested “taken on” as fodder for your wonderfully agile pen! Rather selfishly I thought of my mother! Born in 1914, first child and only daughter and a PK, she graduated from college in 1938 with a degree in business administration. She never held a job in her field. She met my father in the business admin courses. They were married in 1938 upon graduation. The rest, they say, was (NOT) history! How many thousands of other women walked in my mother’s steps? Well educated, highly intelligent, deeply committed to politics and women’s rights? Hmmm.
Too, too, true, Laura. I often think of the buried stories--ordinary women, leading quietly heroic lives, especially during the hard times. The 30s, the war years here. Elsewhere, even harder times: drought, famine, floods. Maybe shining a little light on them will remind us all that there are really, truly, heroes. In skirts, birkas, hijab, whatever.
I have read those three previous books you wrote and enjoyed them. Yes, Rosalind Franklin is a hidden woman. Have you read anything about Audrey Hepburn? I think she had a hidden life before she became a star.
This is a wonderful post that helps us readers understand what it is like for a writer to 'row your boat in another direction.' (You will see why I chose that phrase later.)
Seeing your tenacity to Hoover up the known facts to write these books is so impressive! Thank Bill for us in helping with those travels! All of this said, I am sadly behind in reading. 😥 Like way behind. And I have to admit that though I have quite liked some of GOK's paintings and more recently discovered that I very much like the clothes that she is said to have made, early on I lost interest in her as a person. Can't really say why. Still, I will be interested to read what you found to be the real woman behind her art.
When it comes to other women I might like to know more about. Here locally in the PNW there are a few. The Bullit sisters who became the owners of KING 5 TV early on in public broadcasting along with several radio stations are documented for their charity and opening positions to minorities as well as funding the arts and our local Children's Hospital. They came from very wealthy families, but they chose the road less traveled. I know there is soooo much more to be known about these women. Here is a link to start with:
Those of us who have traveled around Puget Sound thru Seattle and Tacoma have seen the huge ocean going Foss tugboats at work or tied to a dock and may have even noticed the Thea Foss parkway that skirts the waterways of Tacoma. But few people today know who Thea Foss was and perhaps even fewer remember Tugboat Annie the early movie and TV series based on her true story. Here are 2 links to help connect the dots.
Though Tugboat Annie and even Thea Foss may not have been staggeringly brilliant, they were clues for me as a little girl growing up where they had lived that women could do stuff! And later when I met the first woman to be given a license to pilot an ocean-going tugboat on the east coast, I was suitably impressed!
I have spent much of the last two weeks immersed in over 900 pages of My Name Is Barbra. One of the many things I appreciate about this autobiography is the acknowledgement she gives to the people who helped her on the way up, from early acting teachers who gave her paid work and became lifelong friends to the woman who was her assistant for so many years. Her gratitude for both helping hands and collaborators is palpable.
I am not yet finished reading the book, but she paints a vivid picture of the world she has worked in and the difficulties for women in that world. At one point she notes that there were more active women film directors in the early days of movies than there were when she began actively directing. I'm wondering, in response to your discussion question, how well documented the women who were active in the early film industry are?
So glad your library has it! Some libraries don't acquire indie published books like this one. Not that they have anything against indies--it's just that we don't put as much money into advertising our titles as the Big Guys do. Libraries are overwhelmed by the available titles and never have enough money to go around. 🤔😪
I think those early years have been pretty well studied by film historians--which does not mean that the women are household names, of course. Lois Weber is one I've always found interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Weber She's credited as being the first to use split screen. But I think the male filmmakers of that era disappeared too, overshadowed by the new technologies (sound, color).
To Sue Kusch: Many thanks for letting me know that the comments were off! On now, with apologies to all who tried to comment earlier.
I would recommend “Ma’am Jones of the Pecos” by Eve Ball. Here’s what Good Reads has to say (better than I can)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1633370
Looks interesting--good to know about her! Thanks, Jane.
I have loved reading your biographies and definitely stories that needed to be told. I've learned so much from your writings and it's encouraged me to start my biography of another hidden woman, Gwen Frostic. Thank you for always sharing, Susan!
I just looked up Gwen Frostic--there's not a lot about her, but enough to see that she was an accomplished woman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwen_Frostic I hope you will write about her, Nancy, whether it's biographical fiction or biography. She sounds like an ideal subject!
I don't have the talent for fiction, biographical or otherwise, but if I could, I would write about Margaret McDonald, an incredible woman who was in the shadow of both Samuel Howe and Julia Ward Howe. I've presented in academic circles on her life, and have vague thoughts of a book someday... but, I've not written one book, let alone that sort of project, so it's unlikely.
Margaret lived in Boston in the mid-1800s, was matron of the first publicly funded school for children with intellectual disabilities, and did some pretty incredible things professionally and in terms of social change. Within the niche history of special education, her work is entirely attributed to Samuel Howe and to other prominent men of the time. Even more fascinating, to me, is that she parallel-worked /for/ the Howes as domestic in terms of caring their own children, as needed, even while running the school. Julia Ward Howe references her occasionally (she called her "Donald") in her own letters -- but despite the ways one might think two socially active women would bond as equals, never (that I have yet found) refers to her as anything other than a helper / in child-care capacities. There was a significant class difference there, as well, that likely played a part. Margaret McDonald was of Scottish immigrant roots, widowed young with children of her own, and working hard for her living.
Such as, Julia Ward Howe's letter to her sister, 1854 -- "See that your children get measles young. Baby suffered very little. Each older one was worse in proportion to the comparative age. Donald has passed the whole week here, day and night.” -- which happened, somehow, while Margaret McDonald was also heading a boarding school full of young children with developmental and medical needs.
The Howe children remembered her this way as well, as written by daughter Laura: “First of all, perhaps, I should put the dear old Scotch lady whom we called “D. D.” She had another name, but that is nobody’s business but her own. D. D. was a thousand years old. She always said so when we asked her age, and she certainly ought to have known. No one would have thought it to look at her, for she had not a single gray hair, and her eyes were as bright and black as a young girl’s. … D. D. was a wonderful nurse; and when we were ill she often came and helped our mother in taking care of us. Then she would sing us her song,—a song that no one but D. D. and the fortunate children who had her for a friend ever heard.”
I don't have any pictures of her, just of one of her sons, and have barely scratched the surface of the records that I know are out there.
Some day. :)
Naomi, thank you for this charming tribute to a woman who was clearly a mainstay in what must have been a troubled family. Would Julia have been able to publish her work and pursue her activism without DD's help? Judging from what you say in this short bit, you've already done substantial research. I hope you find a way to get DD's story out into the world, beyond the usual academic circles. It deserves to be told, and you sound like an ideal tale-teller!
Thank you, Susan! I think that she and I both wish she had been assigned a better storyteller -- but perhaps it will come together one day.
In the meantime, I'm going to follow a bit of inspiration from your reply, your wonderful books, and this substack, and gather my scattered snippets of life stories of individuals with disabilities from their different social media spots and into a nascent substack of their own. Who knows, it might just help me find a writing groove. 😁
Wonderful idea! Please stay in touch--I want to see what you do with this, Naomi.
All the fascinating women mentioned in the comments so far. I'm intrigued. I love reading about read people. In Someone Always Nearby I had to keep remindiing myself of the times and women's roles and rights. That explained some behaviors that might not happen today. I'm looking forward to the discussion. So many books. Laurie King is another writer who, although her work is fiction, writes always about women protagonists. Her series on Mary Russell, young wife of Sherlock Holmes is a treat. I'm ready to dive into Toksvigs almanac too. So many women we need to know more about.
We all have a lot of catching up to do! And with the internet, there's a flood of information--a challenge to sort through it all and find what's important.
I enjoy Laurie King, too. The extension of fictional characters into new fictions is another interesting topic to think about. I enjoyed working with Beatrix Potter, whose real life was truly quite incredible.
I haven’t read any of this series yet, but after this post from you I’m definitely interested and plan on starting
Thanks…
Thanks, Alan. Each project presented a different kind of research and writing challenge--and all very different from the genre fiction. I see that you and I aren't so far apart in age. Maybe you remember the Eisenhower/Summersby episode as it emerged in the media after the war?
It’s been a while, but I was disappointed when I searched for a biography (or bio-fic) about Mary Frances Lyons. https://www.nature.com/articles/518036a
Interesting. I looked around and asked Open AI Chat to do some digging and it couldn't come up with anything either. I wonder if the Rosalind Franklin story maybe has more appeal because the 3 guys who won the Nobel so clearly ignored her work--and because she died so tragically young. Looks like Lyon had a long and satisfying career. Raises (for me) the always intriguing question: what makes a story saleable in the contemporary book market? (Not that I'm looking for a new project, just thinking out loud here.)
Wow! Thank you for this post! I absolutely love reading about Women in History and one of my other favorite authors is Marie Benedict. Speaking of Rosalind Franklin, she wrote: HER HIDDEN GENIUS which was excellent, but yes, it made me mad! I also like all of Marie Benedict's other books. Phillipa Gregory has a book coming out on February 28th titled NORMAL WOMEN about Women in History. And I do have all of your books, but I do need to read your SOMEONE ALWAYS NEARBY. Thank you for all that you're doing to bring Women in HERstory to us!
I like Benedict, especially her choice of projects. She has a supportive publisher, too--one that works with book clubs and book club PR. I just wish she would dig a little deeper. There's more to the story. I especially felt this with her book on Hedy Lamarr--although I also have to say that there's a limit to the kind of research a writer can do on a subject like Lamarr.
Thanks for the mention of Gregory's book. I'll look for it. Gregory is one who really, really digs deep. She TUNNELS. I admire her work.
I agree with you on Benedict. I'm sure they're limited by the number of words and pages, right? But someone like GREGORY obviously can write as much as she wants to. Her new book is 688 pages.
They're writing in different genres for different markets. While she tackles historical subjects, Benedict is writing for American book club readers, typically women, in mainstream fiction, where books seldom exceed 340 pp.
Gregory writes for an international market in historical fiction, where there is essentially no limit. Hilary Mantel's Mirror and the Light is 784 pp--and we could find longer examples. So yes, Benedict's word count is limited, but there are other reasons for what we're talking about. Have to say, though, that the Lamarr book was early. I haven't continued to read her.
Interesting, thank you for this insight, Susan.
If you haven't already come across it, you might be interested in a book called "Toksvig's Almanac 2021: An Eclectic Meander Through the Historical Year" by Sandi Toksvig. Despite the title it is not about 2021, it contains stories about amazing women forgotten by history.
Thanks for sharing this. I love Sandy Toksvig on TV and just read a sample. Witty and funny too. I think I'll enjoy this.
And a ton of information, delivered in right-sized pieces. Interesting concept for a book!
Colette, thanks for this! Toksvig is new to me. I've just downloaded a sample of this book. I've been thinking about doing something like this myself here at Substack--I'm eager to see how this author approaches the project. I'm VERY grateful to you for pointing her out.
I love hearing the stories behind the books. It adds a layer of insight that we don't have on most books.
Penny, I think you're right. We would all love to know more about the how/where/when/who/why of books we're interested in. In print, the distance between writer and reader is just too great to bridge. But platforms like Substack make that easier. Hope we can see more of these conversations!
I haven't read the other hidden women books but they are on my list. I thought this unique approach to women's stories was quite clever. I think about the grandmothers who help their daughters and DILs with grandchildren as a kind of hidden woman relationship but even that has changed. My friend is a professional therapist and when her sons/DiLS produced six children in a ten year span, they started to have expectations about my friend's role and she quickly announced that she was not going to do childcare at a drop because she has a thriving practice. Women and their stories are so interesting.
Had to smile at this, Sue: I know 2 other grandmothers who have had to draw the line--each a different story. Which reminds me to say that each of us has hidden stories (plural). Sometimes those hidden stories dominate a woman's life. Those are the ones that interest me the most.
Have read 3 of the Hidden Women series- looking forward to reading about Kaye Sommersby and Mamie. Greatly enjoyed them. I always enjoyed getting my History from historical fiction and appreciate these "more truth than fiction" fictional biographies. More,please!!
Kay was interesting to me because there was such an effort to remove all traces of her from Ike's life--and yet they (the staff, the family) were confronted by the living fact of her, here in the U.S. and often in the newspapers. It got especially dodgy in 1952, when he was running for president and there were rumors of letters.
I'm not sure I want to tackle another bio novel. But I'm thinking about a Substack series of short pieces. The topic intrigues me.
I read this post, and every comment. I’d love to see some of the women suggested “taken on” as fodder for your wonderfully agile pen! Rather selfishly I thought of my mother! Born in 1914, first child and only daughter and a PK, she graduated from college in 1938 with a degree in business administration. She never held a job in her field. She met my father in the business admin courses. They were married in 1938 upon graduation. The rest, they say, was (NOT) history! How many thousands of other women walked in my mother’s steps? Well educated, highly intelligent, deeply committed to politics and women’s rights? Hmmm.
Too, too, true, Laura. I often think of the buried stories--ordinary women, leading quietly heroic lives, especially during the hard times. The 30s, the war years here. Elsewhere, even harder times: drought, famine, floods. Maybe shining a little light on them will remind us all that there are really, truly, heroes. In skirts, birkas, hijab, whatever.
I have read those three previous books you wrote and enjoyed them. Yes, Rosalind Franklin is a hidden woman. Have you read anything about Audrey Hepburn? I think she had a hidden life before she became a star.
No, I only know Hepburn from her films. You've made me curious--I'll have a look!
This is a wonderful post that helps us readers understand what it is like for a writer to 'row your boat in another direction.' (You will see why I chose that phrase later.)
Seeing your tenacity to Hoover up the known facts to write these books is so impressive! Thank Bill for us in helping with those travels! All of this said, I am sadly behind in reading. 😥 Like way behind. And I have to admit that though I have quite liked some of GOK's paintings and more recently discovered that I very much like the clothes that she is said to have made, early on I lost interest in her as a person. Can't really say why. Still, I will be interested to read what you found to be the real woman behind her art.
When it comes to other women I might like to know more about. Here locally in the PNW there are a few. The Bullit sisters who became the owners of KING 5 TV early on in public broadcasting along with several radio stations are documented for their charity and opening positions to minorities as well as funding the arts and our local Children's Hospital. They came from very wealthy families, but they chose the road less traveled. I know there is soooo much more to be known about these women. Here is a link to start with:
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19901111&slug=1103490
Those of us who have traveled around Puget Sound thru Seattle and Tacoma have seen the huge ocean going Foss tugboats at work or tied to a dock and may have even noticed the Thea Foss parkway that skirts the waterways of Tacoma. But few people today know who Thea Foss was and perhaps even fewer remember Tugboat Annie the early movie and TV series based on her true story. Here are 2 links to help connect the dots.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-the-original-tugboat-annie-turned-a-5-rowboat-into-an-empire
https://crosscut.com/culture/2021/01/how-tugboat-annie-pulled-seattle-silver-screen
Though Tugboat Annie and even Thea Foss may not have been staggeringly brilliant, they were clues for me as a little girl growing up where they had lived that women could do stuff! And later when I met the first woman to be given a license to pilot an ocean-going tugboat on the east coast, I was suitably impressed!
I have spent much of the last two weeks immersed in over 900 pages of My Name Is Barbra. One of the many things I appreciate about this autobiography is the acknowledgement she gives to the people who helped her on the way up, from early acting teachers who gave her paid work and became lifelong friends to the woman who was her assistant for so many years. Her gratitude for both helping hands and collaborators is palpable.
I am not yet finished reading the book, but she paints a vivid picture of the world she has worked in and the difficulties for women in that world. At one point she notes that there were more active women film directors in the early days of movies than there were when she began actively directing. I'm wondering, in response to your discussion question, how well documented the women who were active in the early film industry are?
I have this book on hold at my library and cannot wait to read it!
So glad your library has it! Some libraries don't acquire indie published books like this one. Not that they have anything against indies--it's just that we don't put as much money into advertising our titles as the Big Guys do. Libraries are overwhelmed by the available titles and never have enough money to go around. 🤔😪
Oh sorry, I meant I have MY NAME IS BARBRA on hold at the library. I buy all of your books, Susan.
Oh, I see--I should have read your comment in the thread. And thank you for being a book buyer. I am honored, Pamela. Truly.
No problem. I'm thankful you're still writing for us, Susan.
I think those early years have been pretty well studied by film historians--which does not mean that the women are household names, of course. Lois Weber is one I've always found interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Weber She's credited as being the first to use split screen. But I think the male filmmakers of that era disappeared too, overshadowed by the new technologies (sound, color).