Engraved portrait of Elizabeth Smith. Robert Mitchell Meadows. 1809. Public domain image.
Ticket Prices
General Admission - In Person: $15
Morven Member - In Person: $10
Student - In Person: $10
General Admission - Virtual: $10
Morven Member - Virtual: $5
Student - Virtual - $5
Writing in 1793, Judith Sargent Murray wished “to congratulate my fair country-women, on the happy revolution which the few past years has made in their favour.” This “happy revolution” was not the American Revolution itself, but rather the related developments that gave women access “to studies of a more elevated and elevating nature.” Long before colleges officially opened their doors to them, women in early national America benefited from access to an expanding array of schools, academies, and institutes. Recent research has helped recover the educational journeys and intellectual aspirations of women from this era. Join Lucia McMahon, Professor of History at William Paterson University, for a presentation exploring some of these previously “hidden histories,” highlighting how educated women participated in both local and transatlantic exchanges of ideas.
Professor McMahon’s most recent book, The Celebrated Elizabeth Smith: Crafting Genius and Transatlantic Fame in the Romantic Era (University of Virginia Press, 2022), will be available for purchase and signing with the author following the talk.
This event is hybrid - held both live and online. Doors open for the in-person event at 6:00 p.m. in the Stockton Education Center. The virtual waiting room opens on Zoom at 6:00 p.m. Q&A for both live and virtual attendees will follow the talk.
A Zoom webinar link will be shared with virtual ticket holders following registration. A recording of the event will be provided following the program.
About the Speaker
Lucia McMahon is currently a Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History, Philosophy, and Liberal Studies at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ, where she regularly teaches courses in historical methods, early national U.S. history, and women’s history. Her research broadly focuses on women’s intellectual and educational history, with a particular focus on the recovery of relatively “unknown” women’s voices and experiences. Her latest book, The Celebrated Elizabeth Smith: Crafting Genius and Transatlantic Fame in the Romantic Era, was published in fall 2022 by the University of Virginia Press. She currently serves as co-editor of Ceres, a book series on New Jersey studies published by Rutgers University Press.
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