I am so excited to discover you, I’m just reading The Solitude of Self about Elizabeth and American Feminist history - what I intuit about Henry is that his distance was deliberate, as many things he did were. It allowed her the space to be “radical” without impacting his own work so they could approach from two angles, so to speak. I am helping my male partner to outwardly engage in feminist work from his own platform, but he isn’t present in my public facing work. I find that the general public is easily confused/biased, and assume it’s the man’s work if he is present.
Hello! I love ECS and her Solitude of Self speech and I haven't read that book yet...I'm going to check it out. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I really like and appreciate your perspective on Henry and their relationship. I'm reading her letters now and she talks a lot about how amazing married love is. I hope she speaks from experience.
What a fabulous story! I I'm betting he was an amazing partner despite the fact that he was a man of his time. The Valentine story was the clincher for me. Thanks, as always, for being a snoop, Maya.
Hey! This is so great. I got fascinated with Henry too for a bit while researching Amelia Bloomer, because of what I was reading about Elizabeth in the early small children years of her marriage.
Their children were known for running wild around town. She wrote a lot of parenting advice in The Lily though! Which is kind of classic behavior.
Did you read anything about the big political scandal when he and (I think) seven other state senators avoided a vote on widening the Erie Canal by resigning their seats and forcing a summer special election? In which he ran to get his seat back again.
It's good to hope for the best -- but I believe he wasn't even in town for the 1848 convention. She did have hired help, and friends to help her. And one of her boys broke into the hall for them when they got there and it was locked.
Thanks! Henry is right there on the periphery of the women's rights stuff in Seneca Falls, so we have to wonder...I love the wild stories of Elizabeth's kids and I would love to read her parenting advice. One of my favorite little details is that she was obsessed with fresh air and open windows to the point that Henry quipped that his tombstone will read "died of fresh air."
And yes, the book covers that big political scandal, and mentions how Elizabeth made it hard for him by wearing the Bloomer costume at his campaign events :-)
I love the story of a kid breaking into the hall for them when it was locked, but I read that it was Elizabeth's nephew. Still, a Cady kid to the rescue!
Looks like you and I will have to form the Henry Stanton appreciation club haha!
I am so excited to discover you, I’m just reading The Solitude of Self about Elizabeth and American Feminist history - what I intuit about Henry is that his distance was deliberate, as many things he did were. It allowed her the space to be “radical” without impacting his own work so they could approach from two angles, so to speak. I am helping my male partner to outwardly engage in feminist work from his own platform, but he isn’t present in my public facing work. I find that the general public is easily confused/biased, and assume it’s the man’s work if he is present.
Hello! I love ECS and her Solitude of Self speech and I haven't read that book yet...I'm going to check it out. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I really like and appreciate your perspective on Henry and their relationship. I'm reading her letters now and she talks a lot about how amazing married love is. I hope she speaks from experience.
I have always wondered about him too! So thank you for this!
What a fabulous story! I I'm betting he was an amazing partner despite the fact that he was a man of his time. The Valentine story was the clincher for me. Thanks, as always, for being a snoop, Maya.
I hope he was a good partner! It's the romance reader/writer in me!
Hey! This is so great. I got fascinated with Henry too for a bit while researching Amelia Bloomer, because of what I was reading about Elizabeth in the early small children years of her marriage.
Their children were known for running wild around town. She wrote a lot of parenting advice in The Lily though! Which is kind of classic behavior.
Did you read anything about the big political scandal when he and (I think) seven other state senators avoided a vote on widening the Erie Canal by resigning their seats and forcing a summer special election? In which he ran to get his seat back again.
It's good to hope for the best -- but I believe he wasn't even in town for the 1848 convention. She did have hired help, and friends to help her. And one of her boys broke into the hall for them when they got there and it was locked.
Thanks! Henry is right there on the periphery of the women's rights stuff in Seneca Falls, so we have to wonder...I love the wild stories of Elizabeth's kids and I would love to read her parenting advice. One of my favorite little details is that she was obsessed with fresh air and open windows to the point that Henry quipped that his tombstone will read "died of fresh air."
And yes, the book covers that big political scandal, and mentions how Elizabeth made it hard for him by wearing the Bloomer costume at his campaign events :-)
I love the story of a kid breaking into the hall for them when it was locked, but I read that it was Elizabeth's nephew. Still, a Cady kid to the rescue!
Looks like you and I will have to form the Henry Stanton appreciation club haha!