Ella Merchant

Born Mary Ella Robinson in Iowa in 1857, she later became known as Ella Robinson Merchant. She lived in Cedar Rapids and is remembered chiefly for co-writing Unveiling a Parallel: A Romance with Alice Ilgenfritz Jones under the shared pseudonym "Two Women of the West."

Published in 1893, the novel is now recognized as an early feminist utopian work and a notable entry in early science fiction. It sends its narrator to Mars to compare two contrasting societies, using the journey to question gender expectations, marriage, and public life.

Merchant was also involved in newspaper publishing with her husband, Stoddard Merchant. Sources connect the couple with western and Iowa newspapers, and after his death she continued newspaper work in Cedar Rapids, adding a practical publishing career to her literary legacy.