by Lydia Sigourney
How fair upon the admiring sight,
In Learning’s sacred fane,
With cheek of bloom, and robe of white,
Glide on yon graceful train.
Blest creatures! to whose gentle eye
Earth’s gilded gifts are new,
Ye know not that distrustful sigh
Which deems its vows untrue. Continue reading School of Young Ladies.
by Ann Plato
Deep in this grave her bones remain,
She’s sleeping on, bereft of pain,
Her tongue in silence now does sleep,
And she no more time’s call can greet. Continue reading Reflections, Written on Visiting the Grave of a Venerated Friend
by Ann Plato
When in the morning’s misty hour,
When the sun beems gently o’er each flower;
When thou dost cease to smile benign,
And think each heart responds with thine,
When seeking rest among divine,
Forget me not. Continue reading Forget Me Not.
by Ann Plato
Teach me, O! Lord, the secret errors of my way,
Teach me the paths wherein I go astray,
Learn me the way to teach the word of love,
For that’s the pure intelligence above.
As well as learning, give me that truth forever–
Which a mere worldly tie can never sever,
For though our bodies die, our souls will live forever. Continue reading Lines, Written Upon Being Examined In School Studies for the Preparation of a Teacher.
by Ann Plato
Day after day I sit and write,
And thus the moments spend–
The thought that occupies my mind,–
Compose to please my friend. Continue reading Advice to Young Ladies
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Are you content, you pretty three-years’ wife?
Are you content and satisfied to live
On what your loving husband loves to give,
And give to him your life? Continue reading To The Young Wife
Tracts of Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association, No. 2
Hartford, Conn.
The facsimile below is from Harvard Library. To navigate from page-to-page, mouse over the document below and click on the arrow buttons that appear at the bottom left-hand side of the page: 
The document can also be read on the Harvard Library viewer. Continue reading “A Mother’s Letters to a Daughter on Woman Suffrage” (1868)
Girls of Tender Age, Chapter 22 (Final Section)
Reader Advisory: some readers may find this segment disturbing
In Chapter Twenty-Two the central horror of Tirone Smith’s childhood is almost too difficult to read. Tirone Smith is not one for sensationalism, though, and crafted detail follows crafted detail in grim succession. The aftermath of the murder of 11-year-old Irene Fiedorowicz starts with a police officer leaving for work late at night. Continue reading Girls of Tender Age, Chapter 22 (Final Section)
Girls of Tender Age, Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine of Girls of Tender Age treats a visit to the downtown Hartford department store G. Fox, a visit that can’t possibly have been duplicated any time in the store’s history. Continue reading Girls of Tender Age, Chapter Nine
In Girls of Tender Age (2006), Tirone Smith drew on the memories of a Hartford childhood and the tragedy that haunted it. In Chapter Seven we meet her autistic and beloved brother Tyler, a portrait of the Charter Oak Terrace housing project in its early days, and a hilarious piano-moving scene. Continue reading from Girls of Tender Age