author
Jessie Eldridge Southwick
1865–1957
A lively voice teacher, poet, and performer, this American author helped shape the art of public speaking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her work grew out of the Chautauqua and Lyceum world, where literature, performance, and education met on the same stage.
1 Audiobook
Expressive Voice Culture, Including the Emerson System
by Jessie Eldridge Southwick
About the author
Born in 1865, Jessie Eldridge Southwick was an American elocutionist, teacher, author, and poet. She became known for her work in expressive reading and voice culture, building a career that blended writing, teaching, and public performance.
She was active in the Chautauqua and Lyceum movements, appearing around the United States and abroad. Southwick also taught at Emerson College of Oratory in Boston and wrote instructional books on speech and expression, including Expressive Voice Culture, helping popularize methods of spoken performance for students and teachers.
Alongside her professional work, she published poetry as well. She died in 1957, leaving behind a body of writing tied closely to the history of oratory, performance, and literary education in America.