America’s Joan of Arc – The Life of Anna Elizabeth Dickinson
If it is possible to be so in tune with a main character in a biography, then J. Matthew Gallman has succeeded in making Anna Elizabeth Dickinson not just come alive but dance a wild jig. I confess to not knowing who Dickinson was, but by the time I finished this book I not only knew her very well but some of the personalities she knew during and after the Civil War as well. Readers can’t help but be caught up in this story because the author deftly gets them involved early on, in the first paragraph of the Introduction. “When six men broke down her bedroom door on a blustery February day in 1891, they found Anna Elizabeth Dickinson sitting on the floor surrounded by leather-bound scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, and stacks of correspondence. “Throughout her celebrated life, the famed orator, author and actress had kept her scrapbooks with painstaking care, filling page after page with accounts of her lectures, reviews of her books and plays, and assorted published rumors about her personal and public affairs.” Dickinson was a young woman when she became famous. She very much reacted to her times and the sweeping times that divided our country. She was one of the most famous women of her time as she became involved in politics, civil rights and Lincoln’s policies. As one of the leading orators, Dickinson was named “America’s Joan of Arc.” She was a firebrand in her speeches against Lincoln during the war. After the war she becomes a popular speaker on the lyceum circuit. She became a pop hero and enjoyed superstar status with her face in newspapers and other media. Her presentations were volatile as she spoke out on gender, race and class issues. They incited crowds and hit at the heart of all the matters like a well-focused laser ray. Born in Philadelphia in 1842, Dickinson was the youngest of five children. Her parents were well-known Quaker abolitionists who used their home to help fugitive slaves. Their children were raised in a world of books, debates and journals. Anna’s mind was stirred at a young age. She enjoyed an environment where open discussion and freethinking were encouraged. January 1860 marked the first time she spoke in public. The public debate was entitled, “Woman’s Rights and Wrongs.” She had no thoughts of doing anything but listening until she a male speaker announced that although his daughters “were the equal of any man’s, they were destined to lives of domesticity and were unsuited to careers as doctors, lawyers, preachers, bankers, or the like.” Dickinson rose and leveled such a powerful response that the speaker was forced to leave the hall. This evening a young lady not yet 17 years old took her first steps toward national recognition. She was asked to speak at local and state events until she hit the national stage. Her reputation blossomed. She soon rubbed shoulders and massaged ideas with such notables as Lucretia Mott, William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ida Tarbell, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Benjamin Butler. Yes, the Beast is cited as writing love letters to her and being an early financial supporter. Dickinson’s story is the story of our country coming of age and working through complex social issues. Author J. Matthew Gallman has created a work that certainly fills an important gap in the history of the period. Dickinson’s story of fame and despair reads like a film script. Her ego, her male and female relationships are all laid out for the reader to assess. She was a living Scarlett O’Hara with her mercurial temperament. She could be sweet and trusting and a firm negotiator when sitting across a table from a booking agent. Anna Dickinson’s successes came from her own hard work. When times got tough, she was not above extorting money from former male suitors such as Butler. She would threaten to release the content of love letters if they did not send money. Gallman does not always paint a sympathetic picture of Dickinson. Her deeds and actions speak volumes. He allows Dickinson to define herself for better or worse. This is an excellent and well-researched book. Gallman deserves great credit for piecing together the life and time of this remarkable woman. George Khoury George Khoury is an adjunct professor at University of Central Florida. He will present a workshop this summer at the Civil War Preservation Trust’s Teacher Institute. He has taught the war from a Southern perspective and is the winner of six National Endowment for the Humanities History grants.
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Illustrated, notes, bibliography, 213pp., 2006. Oxford University Press, $16.95 plus shipping, www.oup.com.