Browse Exhibits (3 total)

Public Image of Charlotte Cushman

Boston Evening Transcript, October 31, 1843, page 2 - false report - annotated.pdf

The items aligned here in various subcategories range from negative to favorable accounts and display the results of and threats to Charlotte Cushman's reputation management. The exhibit also comprises retrospective accounts that were published after Cushman's death in 1876.

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Cushman's Networks

CCP 11, 3302-3303, Fields, Annie to CC, Feb 5, [1868].pdf

This exhibit explores Cushman's private relationships as well as her (intersecting) wider social circles and networks through which she actively shaped her public image.

Choose a gallery page to learn more about

  • the people among Cushman's circle of friends, lovers, acquaintances and admireres, such as
    • "major figures" in Cushmania, that is Cushman's  "inner circle" of family, friends, and lovers. In this gallery page, you will be introduced to Cushman's most frequent correspondents (such as Emma Crow Cushman) as well as people most frequently mentioned in her letters (e. g. Emma Stebbins or Ned Cushman)
    • James T. and Annie Fields, whose correspondence with Cushman reveals her as a seasoned professional in terms of managing her reputation as well as a private person navigating the open secret of her relationship with Emma Stebbins
    • the Brownings and Isa Blagden, who wrote as frequently about Cushman as they wrote to Cushman
    • Cushman's reliance on and writing of letters of introduction, which were a major aspect on nineteenth-century professional and personal networks.
  • her homes in Rome and Newport, in which she entertained her frequent visitors.

D3
(force-directed graph which gives an overview
over the letter correspondence from the collection "Cushmania,"
code and simulation here)

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1857: Cushman's Breakup with Hays

Cabinet Photo of Cushman and Hays

This exhibit revolves around accounts of the romantic and passionate relationship between Matilda Hays and Charlotte Cushman in the 1850s and their breakup in 1857. After Cushman's rise to success in the 1840s, she carefully watches her public image which involved keeping her same-sex relationships private. The exhibit devotes attention to the (lack of) archival material that provides insights into this period of Cushman's life.

For a blog post about this event which also inquires the  intracacies of gossip as uncertain knowledge, please visit historyofknowledge.net.

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