Letter from Paulina Wright Davis to Emma R. Coe, August 17, 1851

Title

Letter from Paulina Wright Davis to Emma R. Coe, August 17, 1851

Creator

Davis, Paulina W., 1813-1876

Contributor

Coe, Emma R.

Date

1851-08-17

Subject

Women's clothing

Women's rights

Type

text

Language

English

Genre

Correspondence

Location

Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Call number

6

Exhibition link

Upstate New York and the Women's Rights Movement

Label text

Letter from Paulina Wright Davis to Emma R. Coe, August 17, 1851. Davis writes that she does not intend to attend the upcoming Bloomer Festival in New York. "Though the reform in dress is important it is but a fragment of the great work." She refers to women like Elizabeth Oaks Smith, whose beauty will "give grace and elegance to our movement." Susan B. Anthony, unimpressed by Smith's elegance, prevented her from presiding over the 1852 Syracuse convention because Smith was wearing a fancy, low-cut, white dress.

Citation

Davis, Paulina W., 1813-1876, “Letter from Paulina Wright Davis to Emma R. Coe, August 17, 1851,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed November 8, 2024, https://rbscpexhibits.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/435.

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