Hale, Sarah Josepha

orig. Sarah Josepha Buell

born Oct. 24, 1788, Newport, N.H., U.S.

died April 30, 1879, Philadelphia, Pa.

U.S. writer and editor.

Hale turned to writing in 1822 as a widow trying to support her family. She edited the Ladies' Magazine (1828–37) and then Godey's Lady's Book (1837–77); as the first female magazine editor, she shaped many of the attitudes and ideas of women of the period. Her books include The Ladies' Wreath (1837), a collection of poetry by women that sold widely; and Woman's Record (1853). She is also remembered for her verse "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (1830).

* * *

▪ American author

née  Sarah Josepha Buell 

born Oct. 24, 1788, Newport, N.H., U.S.

died April 30, 1879, Philadelphia, Pa.

 American writer who, as the first female editor of a magazine, shaped many of the attitudes and thoughts of women of her period.

      Sarah Josepha Buell married David Hale in 1813, and with him she had five children. Left in financial straits by her husband's death in 1822, she embarked on a literary career. Her poems were printed over the signature Cornelia in local journals and were gathered in The Genius of Oblivion (1823). A novel, Northwood, a Tale of New England (1827), brought her an offer to go to Boston as editor of a new publication, the Ladies' Magazine (from 1834 the American Ladies' Magazine), which she accepted in 1828.

      As editor, Hale wrote most of the material for each issue herself—literary criticism, sketches of American life, essays, and poetry. Editorially and personally she supported patriotic and humanitarian organizations, notably the Boston Ladies' Peace Society and the Seaman's Aid Society, which she founded in 1833. She advocated education for women and opportunities for women to teach, although she always remained apart from formal feminist movements and advised her readers to shun unfeminine involvement in public affairs. She also published during this period Poems for Our Children (1830), containing her single most famous piece, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and in 1834–36 edited the Juvenile Miscellany magazine for children.

      In 1837 Louis A. Godey took over the American Ladies' Magazine and established Hale as editor of his Lady's Book, soon known as Godey's Lady's Book, which he had established seven years earlier in Philadelphia. She moved to that city in 1841. With Godey she made the Lady's Book into the most influential and widely circulated women's magazine published in the country up to that time (by 1860 its circulation was reputedly 150,000). She continued to call for female education in the liberal arts and for more women teachers (her articles aided the founding of Vassar College).

      In later years Hale liberalized her outlook so far as to approve women doctors, if only to treat those ailments of women that she felt were otherwise better endured than examined by male physicians. She was also active in promoting child welfare, and she published a number of books, including cookbooks, poetry, and prose. Her major achievement was the Woman's Record; or, Sketches of Distinguished Women, issued in 1853, 1869, and 1876; in the course of this ambitious project she completed some 36 volumes of profiles of women, tracing their influence through history on social organization and literature. She retired from Godey's in December 1877 at the age of 89.

* * *