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details. Hey

1:01

everyone. Welcome to Episode number 452 of our Civil

1:04

War Podcast.

1:06

I'm Rich. And

1:15

I'm Tracy. Hello y'all. Thanks for

1:18

tuning into the podcast. On

1:21

Saturday, January 16,

1:24

1864, at the invitation of admiring

1:26

Republicans in Washington, including

1:29

Vice President Hannibal Hamlin,

1:31

23 Senators, and 78

1:33

Representatives who signed the note inviting

1:35

her to speak, celebrated

1:38

abolitionist orator, Anna E. Dickinson,

1:40

delivered a fiery address on

1:43

Capitol Hill before an

1:45

impressive assembly of government officials, journalists,

1:48

and other public figures, including

1:51

President and Mrs. Lincoln. Her

1:54

address was titled, The Perils of the

1:56

Hour, and in it, the

1:58

21-year-old Dickinson read the letter. the

2:01

Coles for his moderate policies,

2:04

but received great applause and a smile from

2:06

the President when

2:08

she finally declared that in the nation's hour

2:10

of peril she did support his upcoming re-election,

2:12

despite his faults. The

2:17

address on Capitol Hill would enhance

2:19

the 21-year-old Dickinson's growing reputation among

2:22

Republican circles and spark many more

2:24

invitations to speak. It

2:28

would also inspire a barrage of criticism

2:30

from her many detractors. For

2:33

example, the Democratic-leaning Geneva, New

2:35

York Gazette would include her

2:38

address among quote,

2:40

the absurd endeavors of women to

2:42

usurp the places and execute the

2:45

functions of the male sex. It

2:48

is a moral and social monstrosity,

2:51

an inversion of the laws of nature. However,

2:54

this particular social inversion would

2:56

be of benefit to some,

2:59

since Dickinson, in accepting

3:01

the invitation to speak, specified that

3:03

all proceeds from ticket sales should

3:05

be used to support quote,

3:08

the suffering freedmen. Despite

3:11

her young age, the 5'2 inch

3:13

Dickinson was perfectly comfortable speaking in

3:15

front of large crowds, even

3:18

when what she had to say was sure

3:20

to upset her audience. She'd

3:22

made her first public speech,

3:24

an address to the Pennsylvania

3:27

Anti-Slavery Society, in 1860. A

3:30

year later, she had her first

3:32

major speaking success when 800 people

3:35

bought tickets to hear her give a

3:37

speech in Philadelphia titled, The

3:39

Rights and Wrongs of Women. Then,

3:42

William Lloyd Garrison, the famous

3:44

founder and editor of The

3:46

Liberator, the country's most well-known

3:48

abolitionist newspaper, brought her

3:50

in for a lecture in Boston.

3:54

Soon, word of her remarkable ability

3:56

as an orator was spreading through

3:58

the Northeast. Anna

4:00

Elizabeth Dickinson was one of the

4:02

Civil War era's most celebrated public

4:05

speakers and one of the

4:07

19th century's most famous women. She

4:10

transcended the boundaries imposed on women

4:12

at that time. She

4:14

was, in 19th century terms,

4:17

a genuine celebrity. People

4:19

would purchase her photograph and put it

4:21

in a scrapbook right beside pictures of

4:24

family. She was a

4:26

real trailblazer as far as women

4:28

speaking in public and being engaged

4:30

in partisan politics. And

4:32

yet, Anna Dickinson is little known

4:35

today. Well, we thought

4:37

we'd do our part to rectify

4:39

that situation. After

4:42

all, anyone interested in what happened

4:44

during the Civil War and why

4:46

it happened needs some

4:48

understanding of the conflicts

4:50

transforming effect on society

4:52

and on the status of women. Anna

4:55

Dickinson is not only a figure who

4:57

did things that were important and interesting,

5:00

but she left a legacy that influenced

5:02

women in the next generation since

5:05

her experience not only revealed how women

5:07

of that era could enter the public

5:10

sphere, but the challenges they

5:12

faced in doing so. Anna

5:25

Dickinson was born in Philadelphia in October

5:27

1842 to Quaker abolitionist parents. She

5:33

grew up in a home surrounded by

5:36

newspapers, books, and political debate. Her

5:39

greatest education came in the

5:41

Dickinson Parlor, where guests included

5:43

prominent abolitionists Frederick Douglass and

5:45

Robert Purvis, president

5:47

of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery

5:49

Society. Anna first

5:51

entered the public arena in 1856 when

5:55

she read a newspaper story about a Kentucky school

5:57

teacher who had been taught to be a political

5:59

leader. hard and feathered for publishing

6:02

an anti-slavery letter. The

6:04

outraged teenager fired off a letter

6:07

to the liberator, protesting this affront

6:09

to free speech. Four

6:11

years later, Anna joined a friend at

6:14

a local meeting on women's rights. Upon

6:17

hearing a male speaker declare that, although

6:19

his daughters ought to have the same

6:21

rights as any man, women

6:24

were nevertheless unsuited to

6:26

have professional careers, and

6:28

thus were destined to lives of

6:31

domesticity. A furious

6:33

Dickinson rose to offer an impassioned

6:35

rebuttal to the idea that a

6:37

woman's place in society was limited

6:39

to a domestic setting. Before

6:42

long, she was receiving invitations

6:45

to speak at women's rights meetings around

6:47

the Philadelphia area. In

6:49

October 1860, she spoke

6:52

at the annual meeting of

6:54

the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, where

6:56

she shared a platform with Robert

6:58

Purvis and other well-known

7:01

abolitionists, including Lucretia and

7:03

James Mott and Oliver

7:05

Johnson. By the outbreak

7:07

of the Civil War, precocious 18-year-old

7:10

Anna Dickinson was the young,

7:12

charismatic darling of the abolitionist

7:14

movement. Anna took a

7:16

job as a clerk with the U.S. Mint

7:19

in Philadelphia, but even then

7:21

she was clearly drawn to the speaker's

7:23

platform. In October 1861,

7:25

shortly after the federal debacle at

7:29

Ball's Bluff, she once again

7:31

spoke at the annual meeting of

7:33

the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, where

7:36

she unleashed a spirited attack

7:38

on Major General George McClellan,

7:41

a Democrat and the commander of the Army

7:43

of the Potomac. The

7:45

speech pleased her audience, but

7:48

it also cost her the job at the

7:50

Mint. In the spring of 1863,

7:52

William Lloyd Garrison helped

7:55

arrange a series of paid speaking engagements

7:57

in New England and New York. Anna

8:00

also spent time visiting sick and

8:02

wounded soldiers in hospitals, which

8:05

led her to give a series of

8:07

lectures titled, Hospital Life. In

8:10

early 1863, just as opportunities

8:13

for paid speaking engagements were

8:15

drying up, Dickinson was

8:17

approached by the New Hampshire Republican

8:20

State Committee to campaign in the

8:22

upcoming elections. She

8:25

easily and rapidly made the transition

8:27

to political stump speaker, delivering

8:29

a series of successful lectures across

8:32

the Granite State, immediately

8:34

followed up by similar engagements

8:36

in Maine. As

8:38

her reputation as a stump speaker

8:40

rose, the lucrative political offers poured

8:43

in. Dickinson spent

8:45

several weeks speaking in Connecticut

8:47

for the Republican gubernatorial candidate,

8:50

culminating her tour with a

8:52

heavily publicized election eve address

8:55

in Hartford's Allen Hall. When

8:58

Anna spoke, she would string ideas

9:00

together in intense bursts, sometimes

9:03

so quickly that she had trouble keeping

9:05

up with herself. Enthusiasm,

9:07

rather than logic, was her

9:10

strength. By the

9:12

end of her addresses, she had

9:14

persuaded audiences to accept her conclusions

9:17

and take action. When

9:19

Dudley Warner, editor of Hartford's

9:22

Evening Press, heard her for

9:24

the first time, he was so

9:26

swept away that he had trouble taking notes.

9:29

In the next day's edition,

9:31

Warner gushed, quote, Hartford

9:34

has been astonished to listen to what

9:36

a woman could say about politics. As

9:40

her reputation for stoking enthusiasm

9:42

for Republican causes and candidates

9:44

grew by leaps and bounds,

9:46

she was the target of

9:49

frequent attacks in the Democratic

9:51

opposition's press. For Example,

9:53

the Hartford Times not only condemned the idea of a

9:55

woman taking an active role in partisan politics, but also

9:57

the idea that she would be a part of the

9:59

American political. Snively speculated that

10:01

Dickinson would soon be offering

10:03

kisses in exchange. For Republican

10:05

votes For in any case,

10:08

after the ballots are counted

10:10

in Connecticut, Republican William Buckingham

10:12

was reelected Gov by just

10:14

two thousand six hundred and

10:17

thirty three boats. And

10:19

a Dickinson received her share

10:21

of credit for Buckingham victory.

10:23

And when she left Hartford,

10:26

the states grateful republican party

10:28

leaders gifted her with too

10:30

powerful symbols of mail approval.

10:32

A. Pocket Watch and.

10:35

Obviously. With no regard for

10:37

her Quaker principles. A. Colt

10:40

Revolver. I'm

10:52

Jane Well as long time

10:54

Foreign correspondent and former Beijing

10:56

Bureau chase Southern York Times.

10:59

I've been a foreign correspondent

11:01

in lots of places Somalia,

11:03

Indonesia, Pakistan, but nowhere is

11:05

important to the world as

11:07

China. I'm in China is

11:09

not dropping anti democratic paratroopers into

11:11

Montana. But of course we did

11:14

see things like the weather balloons

11:16

last spy balloon riveting the whole

11:18

country for a week. This

11:20

is Faye Sauce and eight part

11:22

series in which will take you

11:24

behind the scenes to key moments

11:27

in the tumultuous Us China relationship.

11:29

Will speak with a diplomat, a

11:31

spy, a tech reporter, a Us

11:34

admiral, even yo yo Ma plus

11:36

my pal and knows it China

11:38

historian run emitter joins the conversation,

11:40

will look at what's driving the

11:43

two nations a pass and explore

11:45

whether any things and helped bring

11:47

them back together say Sauce launches

11:49

April. Nights. Her.

11:57

Success in Connecticut brought in a

11:59

Dickinson. Creased fame and invitations

12:01

to speak before even larger

12:04

audiences in towns and cities.

12:06

Across the northeast. After

12:09

leaving Hartford, she traveled to New

12:11

York, where she spoke at a

12:13

rally attended by five thousand Republicans

12:15

in May eighteen. Sixty three,

12:17

she earned. An astonishing one

12:19

thousand. Dollar Fee for speaking

12:21

in Philadelphia in July. she

12:23

shared a stage with Frederick

12:25

Douglas at a rally encouraging

12:27

black enlistment in the Union

12:30

Army. That. November.

12:32

She became the object of

12:34

controversy when she accepted a

12:36

large honorarium to deliver to

12:39

lectures at Chicago's Northwest Sanitary

12:41

Fair, which, like all such

12:43

events, was designed to draw

12:46

crowds and raise money for

12:48

the Us Sanitary Commissions aid

12:50

work with Federal armies. Local

12:54

Democrats question to anus

12:56

patriotism, criticizing her for

12:58

accepting compensation from such

13:00

an important charity. But.

13:02

The Chicago Tribune rose to her

13:05

defense, pointing out that her fees

13:07

were far less than those she

13:09

would have earned back East, and

13:11

thus she was in essence contributing

13:14

the difference to the cause. The

13:17

highlight of Anna Dickinsons wartime

13:19

career in the public arena

13:21

and undeniable evidence at her

13:23

contemporary. Popularity. Came

13:25

when she accepted the invitation

13:27

signed by Vice President Hannibal

13:30

Him Hamlin and over one

13:32

hundred Republican senators and Congressmen

13:34

to make an address in

13:36

Washington on Capitol Hill in

13:39

January. Eighteen Sixty Four In

13:41

his book America's Joan of

13:43

Arc, The life of Anna

13:45

Elizabeth Dickinson, The story of

13:47

a remarkable woman, the Civil

13:49

War and the struggle for

13:51

women's rights. J. Matthew

13:53

Calm and rights. The

13:56

Washington Lecture was not merely a great

13:58

honor, it was also a wonder from

14:00

opportunity. And. An interesting political

14:03

challenge as recent events presented

14:05

a complex political landscape. Like

14:09

most abolitionists, Dickinson had been

14:11

disappointed at the Lincoln administration's

14:14

gradual approached him answer patient

14:16

and it's unequal treatment of

14:18

African American soldiers. Moreover,

14:21

on December eight, Lincoln had

14:24

issued his proclamation of amnesty

14:26

and Reconstruction, which promised surprisingly

14:28

generous terms to Southern whites

14:31

to states returned to the

14:33

Union. While. Providing no

14:35

protection for African Americans

14:38

beyond emancipation itself. Dickinsons

14:41

Washington Lecture was witnessed by

14:43

nearly all at Republican official

14:45

them including the President and

14:47

First Lady, and reported by

14:49

many of the nation's. Leading

14:51

newspapers. New Hampshire

14:53

direst any t Deadly was

14:56

among those in the audience

14:58

and was pleased with what

15:00

she saw. Quote: went to

15:02

the House of Representatives to

15:04

hear any Dickinson he spoke

15:06

on the Perils of the

15:08

Our See had a very

15:10

distinguished audience the President, one

15:12

or two members of the

15:14

cabinet, senators and members and

15:16

yet she was perfectly self

15:18

possessed. Her language was perfect

15:20

and sept it well connected.

15:23

Use know notes except a few words

15:25

on a slip of paper which. She

15:27

rolled around her fingers on

15:29

that Grant political stage, to

15:31

twenty one year old Anna

15:34

Navigator to a careful path

15:36

between republican extremes. On.

15:38

One hand, she itemized a

15:40

long list of radical republican

15:43

grievances against the moderate republican

15:45

President. Polling. No punches

15:47

even though Lincoln said in the

15:50

audience. On the other

15:52

hand, she cleverly built her address

15:54

to the conclusion that the perils

15:56

of the our required continued support

15:58

for the press. A

16:01

good natured link and appeared to

16:03

enjoy the a bad even though

16:06

he received as serious tongue lashing.

16:08

Dickinsons eventual endorsement of the President

16:11

prompted tremendous applause from the partisan

16:13

audience. When the President and First

16:15

Lady rose to leave, the audience

16:18

clamored for a few words that

16:20

Lincoln declined. After word,

16:22

the Lincoln's reportedly met with Anna in

16:24

the office of the Speaker. Of

16:26

the house, Dickinsons friends

16:28

and advisers offered unstinting

16:30

praise of her performance.

16:33

Newspaper correspondent White La. Reid

16:36

authored a celebratory account for

16:38

the Cincinnati Gazette. Cancer

16:41

Senator Samuel Pomeroy sent her

16:44

a know praising the address

16:46

as quote and entire and

16:48

complete success. Exclamation point. Essayist

16:52

and novelist Charles Deadly Warner

16:54

congratulated An Hour for conquering

16:56

Washington, saying he wished only

16:59

that Richmond would fall so

17:01

easily. Invitations poor

17:03

dance, asking her to repeat

17:05

her address in towns and

17:07

cities. Across the North. At the

17:10

same time, the success of the

17:12

Consensus Dress pushed some of her

17:14

democratic critics to new heights of

17:16

outrage. The New

17:19

York World was particularly aggravated

17:21

by her appearance on Capitol

17:23

Hill declaring quote she attracts

17:25

crowds when she speaks by

17:27

appealing to the same love

17:29

of the monstrous which Barnum

17:32

his made his fortune and

17:34

exhibiting willie horses, dwarves, freaky

17:36

mermaids and other queer same.

17:39

Yet this silly young person was

17:41

allowed the use of the house

17:43

representatives last Saturday to make one

17:45

of her on womanly displays. Since

17:48

she was a passionate, effective mouthpiece

17:50

for the Republican party and therefore

17:53

at the center of partisan political

17:55

debates, it's not surprising that an

17:57

addict and since critics tried to.

18:00

Find the best way to minimize

18:02

your power and often used her

18:04

gender to do so by claiming

18:06

that she was acting in an

18:08

improper away. Those critics explicitly stated

18:11

that she wasn't staying within a

18:13

woman's. Proper Spear Despite striking

18:15

a nerve among Democrats

18:17

and those supposed to

18:19

women's rights. By the

18:21

worst final year and a Dickinson

18:23

was nevertheless the true celebrity. Photographers

18:26

by to take her picture. Fans

18:29

clamored for autographs. Young

18:32

girl's room seeking council. And

18:35

politicians recognize that she was of women

18:37

to be reckoned with. By

18:40

the close of the Civil War, she

18:42

had risen to a unique position in

18:44

the public arena among America's women. Interestingly,

18:47

with Abraham Lincoln's assassination in

18:49

April eighteen Sixty five Dickinson

18:51

say something of a dilemma

18:53

since she had been so

18:55

critical it's hands and after

18:57

his death Some people advised

18:59

her not to comment on

19:01

his legacy either said no,

19:03

you must. Be. In

19:06

the end, she did speak publicly

19:08

a few times the murdered precedent.

19:10

She held true to her own

19:12

sense of justice by saying, essentially,

19:14

I'm not going to come before

19:16

you now and say I agreed

19:18

with him. That he was

19:20

a great man. After

19:33

the war in a Dickinson remained

19:35

in the public eye for generations.

19:38

Burst is one of the nation's

19:40

most sought after Lyceum speakers, and

19:42

later as a less successful play

19:45

right and actor see also published

19:47

several books including and novel Descending

19:49

Interracial Marriage. as f

19:52

why i the lyceum movement

19:54

in the united states was

19:56

an early form of organized

19:58

adult education It featured

20:01

lectures, I noted speakers, dramatic

20:04

performances, and debates. The

20:07

Lyceum movement was especially popular in

20:09

the Northeast and Midwest. Anna's

20:12

highly celebrated public life was lived

20:15

against a backdrop of personal illness,

20:18

recurring family tensions, a

20:20

series of failed relationships with various

20:22

men and women, and

20:24

a long list of private conflicts. In

20:28

1891, poverty-stricken and increasingly irrational

20:32

and cantankerous, she

20:34

was committed to an asylum by her sister

20:36

Susan. The once

20:38

famous orator took her case to

20:40

court and eventually won her

20:42

freedom, and then won

20:45

small settlements from several newspapers

20:47

that had trumpeted her insanity.

20:50

Anna Dickinson spent the final four

20:52

decades of her life in quiet

20:54

obscurity, eventually dying in Goshen, New

20:57

York in October 1932, less than a week

20:59

before her 90th birthday. In

21:04

the conclusion to America's Joan of Arc,

21:07

Gullman notes that by the time she

21:09

moved to Goshen, Anna

21:11

Dickinson had long since drifted from

21:13

the public's memory, but

21:15

that the obscurity in which she lived

21:17

her final years is hardly a measure

21:19

of her true importance. Her

21:22

behavior in later life, no doubt, damaged

21:24

her legacy. She had

21:26

always had a strong personality and

21:28

explosive temper, and as she

21:31

grew older, she drove

21:33

friends and admirers away with

21:35

her harsh sarcasm and bewildering

21:37

bouts of rage. Nevertheless,

21:41

her most significant legacy was

21:43

as a Republican stump speaker

21:45

and Civil War patriot. In

21:48

her early 20s, audiences had

21:50

filled halls to hear her

21:52

brand of radical republicanism blended

21:55

with passionate patriotism. Abolitionists

21:57

had embraced her as one eloquent

22:00

advocates. Wartime

22:02

Republicans credited her with swaying

22:04

several crucial state elections. And

22:08

in early 1864, party leaders

22:10

invited her to speak on Capitol Hill.

22:14

Then, for years after the war,

22:16

as one of the nineteenth century's

22:19

most famous celebrities, she

22:21

remained one of the nation's most

22:23

popular public speakers and

22:25

continued to transcend the boundaries imposed

22:28

on women at that time. That

22:37

means it's time for this episode's book

22:39

recommendation. And it should come

22:41

as no surprise that our recommendation this time

22:43

is... America's Joan

22:46

of Arc, The Life of Anna

22:48

Elizabeth Dickinson by J. Matthew

22:50

Gallman. You can find

22:52

a complete list of all of

22:55

our book recommendations if you head

22:57

over to the podcast website, which

22:59

is www.CivilWarPodcast.org. We

23:02

want to take a moment to say thank you

23:04

to the newest members of the Strawfoot Brigade, Theodore

23:07

S., Tyler F., and

23:09

Frank A. And we

23:12

also want to thank Frederick H.

23:14

and Douglas M. for their donations.

23:17

And then, as the curtain comes down on

23:19

this episode, we'll remind you that the music

23:21

you hear at the start and at the

23:23

end of every show is from the song,

23:25

Midnight on the Water, and we

23:27

use it with the kind permission of spirit with

23:29

music. Alright,

23:31

thanks for listening to this episode of

23:33

the podcast. Tracy and I

23:35

do hope that you join us again next

23:37

time, but until then, take care. Thanks

23:40

everyone. Thank

23:52

you. you