author
C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg) Waite
1829–1913
A sharp-eyed reformer who turned lived experience on the frontier into outspoken nonfiction, she wrote about the American West while also pushing for women’s legal and political rights.
1 Audiobook
The Mormon Prophet and His Harem Or, An Authentic History of Brigham Young, His Numerous Wives and Children
by C. V. (Catherine Van Valkenburg) Waite
About the author
Born in Dumfries, Ontario, in 1829, Catharine Van Valkenburg Waite was educated at Oberlin College and went on to build an unusually wide-ranging public life. She is remembered as a writer, lawyer, businesswoman, and an early advocate for women's suffrage in the United States.
Waite wrote about western life and Mormonism, drawing on experiences from years spent in frontier communities after her marriage to jurist Charles B. Waite. Her books combine travel, observation, and polemic, giving modern readers a window into the arguments and anxieties of the nineteenth-century West.
Later in life, she also studied law and was admitted to the bar, reinforcing the same independence that shaped her activism. That mix of literary work, reform energy, and professional ambition makes her a striking figure for readers interested in overlooked women writers of the nineteenth century.