Laura C. (Laura Carter) Holloway

Born in Nashville, Laura Carter Holloway became known as an American journalist, author, and lecturer. Reliable sources agree that she died in 1930, but they do not all agree on her birth year: some library and reference records give 1848, while the Tennessee Encyclopedia and Wikipedia report 1843. What is clear is that she was educated in Nashville, began publishing while still young, and went on to make writing her profession.

After the Civil War, she built a career in New York journalism and magazine work, supporting herself through her writing. She is especially remembered for books such as The Ladies of the White House, along with other works on notable Americans, domestic life, and women’s experiences. Her career shows how widely a determined 19th-century writer could range, moving from political and social biography to practical household books and personal commentary.

Later in life, she was also connected with lecturing and with reform and spiritual circles, which added another dimension to her public life. Today she is of interest not only as a prolific author, but also as a woman who carved out a visible place in American literary and journalistic culture at a time when that was far from easy.