Browse Items (74 total)

  • Tags: same-sex attraction

Diary Entry by Anne H. Brewster about the Breakup of Charlotte Cushman and Matilda Hays

ABP Box 4 5, diary 1876. On CC and Hays_excerpt.pdf
The complete diary entry for June 5, 1876 is 24 pages long and details the time Harriet Hosmer and Anne H. Brewster spent together. The last eight pages (transcribed here) recount, how Hosmer witnessed the passionate breakup of Charlotte Cushman and…

Letter from Emma Stebbins to Sidney Lanier, March 1, 1876

JLP 2 Stebbins to Lanier, March 1, 1876 - OV Omeka.pdf
Stebbins writes to Lanier upon Charlotte Cushman's death to discuss the matter of Cushman's memoirs. Transcripts by Jennie LorenzCredit Library of Congress, Charlotte Cushman Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Helen Hunt, Aug 16, 1874

Charlotte Cushman discusses further engagements and tells Hunt about her "friend Miss Stebbins" who accompanies her. Emma Stebbins's mother died.Transcripts courtesy of Nancy Knipe, Colorado College.

Letter from Helen Hunt to Charlotte Cushman, Oct 7, 1872

CCP Box 11 Hunt, Helen to CC, Oct 7, 1872.pdf
A love letter of Helen Hunt about how much she misses and wants to see her Queen, Charlotte Cushman, again. Helen Hunt also talks about a man who heard Cushman talk and is fascinated by her genius. Credit Library of Congress, Charlotte Cushman…

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Helen Hunt, March 29, 1871

Dr. Wright could not help Charlotte Cushman to get better. Cushman is anxious and convinced that she will die in a couple of month, she "will seek every palliative" available. She desperately tries to consult medical advice in different cities.As…

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Helen Hunt Jackson, Dec 6, [1870?]

Charlotte Cushman writes about her health and housing situation.Transcripts courtesy of Nancy Knipe, Colorado College.

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Helen Hunt Jackson, Dec 6, 1869

At this state, Charlotte Cushman is "a poor shaky old 'queen'" who contemplates going back to the US.She comments on her relationship with Emma Stebbins and reveals a breach of trust with, presumably, Emma Crow Cushman:"You are wrong dear in you…

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Helen Hunt Jackson, Nov 23, 1869

Charlotte Cushman is grateful for a gift from Helen Hunt and tells her that she loves her.Transcripts courtesy of Nancy Knipe, Colorado College.

Letter from Anne Brewster to Mary Howell, July 8, 1864

ABP 27 10 Letter to Howell, July 8, 1864.pdf
Anne Brewster describes the fiancé of her cousin Frank as a "well-posé person" whose manners she feels drawn to. She adds: "Had I been alone with her I should have kissed her [inserted] but I would not take a liberty with her before any one for fear…

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to [Emma Crow], Jan 15, 1863

CCP 2, 614-617, CC to ECC, Jan 15, 1863.pdf
Charlotte Cushman stresses that she reads only "portions" of Emma's letters to Emma's sister Mary who is a very "unamiable" character. Cushman is "fully aware of all her propensities," she say speaking of Mary who gets an "occasional rebuke" from…

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Emma Crow Cushman, Dec 18, 1862

CCP 2, 504-506, CC to ECC Dec 18 1862.pdf
Charlotte Cushman laments that she is living to far away from her "darling" Emma Crow Cushman. She mentions stock speculation business, financial concerns, social gatherings, memories of Emma Crow and her, and an accident of "woolly headed" Emma…

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to James Fields, Nov 21, 1862

Letter from CC to JT, November 21, 1862
Tilton has not been handling the sending of Cushman's belongings very well. Cushman is grateful for the books James Fields has sent her way, but comments on him forgetting to do so as of lately. These two issues cause her describe men (="sex") as…

Letter from Mary Devlin Booth to Emma Crow Cushman, Nov 10[?], 1862

Mary Devlin Booth writes an affectionate letter to her friend Emma Cushman. She mentions a yearning for Emma which she has "never experienced before" (page 2): "I know if your husband saw this he would call this silly & me along with it: for he…

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Jane Welsh Carlyle, July 15, 1862

NLS, ms1774, 235-236 recto, Cushman to Jane Carlyle in Ms. 1771 dated 15 July 1862.pdf
Cushman plans to meet Carlyle and writes about her "loving admiration" for Jane. Credit National Library of Scotland

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Jane Welsh Carlyle, July 12, 1862

NLS, ms1774, 233-234 recto, Cushman to Jane Carlyle in Ms. 1771 dated 12 July 1862.pdf
Cushman inquires about a meeting with Jane Carlyle. Credit National Library of Scotland

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Emma Crow, March 13, 1862

CCP Box 2 Letters 1862 March.pdf
Charlotte Cushman calls Emma Crow Cushman her "daughter." Cushman laments the dishonesty and greed in the times of the Civil War. She was relieved to hear from Ned and Emma and is now longing to return to "America."Ned and Emma may have to move in…

Letter from Jane Carlyle to Charlotte Cushman, Jan 31, 1862

CCP Box 16, Jane Carlyle Jan 1862.pdf
Jane Carlyle, who had earlier expressed jealousy over Geraldine Jewsbury's attachment to Charlotte Cushman (see, e.g. a 1846-letter to her aunt Jeannie Welsh), here details her deep and sudden affection for Cushman upon finally meeting…

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to [Emma Crow], Nov 23, 1861

CCP Box 1 Letters 1861 Nov.pdf
Charlotte Cushman is satsfied with Ned Cushman having improved his letter writing. She encourages him to write more and laments that Ned has never shown much affection towards herself. Since Charlotte's doctor is gone, she has had some language…

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Jane Welsh Carlyle, Nov 16, 1861

NLS, ms. 1774, ff.216-217 verso, Charlotte Cushman to Jane Welsh Carlyle, Rome, 16 Nov, 1861.pdf
Charlotte Cushman writes a glowing letter of affection to Jane Welsh Carlyle. Cushman admires her, speaks of mutual love, begs Jane to write to her. She mentions Rosa Bonheur as a mutual friend. Credit National Library of Scotland

Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Emma Crow, Sept 20, 1861

CCP 1.326-327, CC to ECC, Sep 20 - Omeka.pdf
Charlotte Cushman addresses Emma Crow's marriage with Ned Cushman. Additionally, she informs Emma about financial issues of Emma Stebbins's work as a sculptor. Credit Library of Congress, Charlotte Cushman Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of…