Elizabeth Stoddard

Born Elizabeth Drew Barstow in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, in 1823, she became an American poet and novelist whose work stood out for its emotional force and unconventional heroines. She studied at Wheaton Female Seminary and later married poet Richard Henry Stoddard, with whom she became part of New York’s literary world.

She published poetry, fiction, and essays in major magazines, but she is especially remembered for her novel The Morgesons (1862), now often noted for its bold treatment of women’s inner lives and social constraint. Her writing did not always fit comfortably into the expectations of her time, which may help explain why later readers have had to rediscover her.

In addition to novels, she wrote many poems and remained an active literary presence for decades. She died in New York City in 1902, and her reputation has gradually grown as modern readers and scholars have returned to her work.