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Matilda Hays
Matilda Hays and Cushman meet "[s]ometime, probably after 1846" (Merrill 156). Hays plays the Juliet to Cushman’s Romeo in 1848, when Cushman's sister Susan plans to marry James Sheridan Muspratt. Hays is in a relationship with Charlotte Cushman in…
Eliza Cook
Charlotte Cushman fosters the business relationship between Sarah Hale and Eliza Cook. Cushman and Cook meet for the first time in May 1845 (London) when Charlotte appears as Bianca in Fazio (Merrill 141).She writes for the New Monthly Magazine, the…
Stebbins's Charlotte Cushman: Her Letters and Memories of Her Life (1878)
Biography of Charlotte Cushman, written after her death by her spouse Emma Stebbins. The transcribed correspondence between Stebbins and Sidney Lanier (who had originally been chosen as the author of the biography) details the painstaking process of…
Rosalie Sully
Rosalie and Charlotte are in a relationship from 1843 until 1845. Rosalie is the daughter of Thomas Sully who once painted the actress. She dies on July 8, 1847, in Philadelphia.
Harriet Goodhue Hosmer
Harriet Hosmer is one of the most well-known sculptors of the nineteenth century, esp. for The Sleeping Faun and Zenobia in Chains. Besides her art, she is most well known for masculine attire and activities. Both her father, "Dr." Hiram Hosmer, and…
Anne Hampton Brewster
Anne Hampton Brewster is an American novelist, journalist and foreign correspondent. She is born to Maria Hampton and Francis Enoch Brewster. In the 1840s, Brewster and Charlotte Cushman meet in Philadelphia, where Cushman is manager of the Walnut…
Geraldine Endsor Jewsbury
She writes several novels, among which Half Sisters (1848) is her most famous one. It comments on Victorian society and gender norms. The character Bianca, an actress who is half Italian, is said to be loosely based on Charlotte Cushman with whom…
Diary Entry by Anne H. Brewster about the Breakup of Charlotte Cushman and Matilda Hays
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…
Frances "Fanny" Anne Kemble Butler
She is married to Mr. Butler but gets divorced. Charlotte Cushman supports her in her fight for custody. Kemble is an old friend and theatrical colleague of Charlotte Cushman. Eventually, they part on bad terms, as Fanny is disturbed by Charlotte's…
Waters' Charlotte Cushman (1882)
The biography is part of an American Actor Series. It focuses on Cushman's stage career and includes letters, lists of performances and casts, advertisements of Cushman's performances, as well as articles. The Fields are, for instance, not mentioned.…
Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Emma Crow, February 22, 1858
This letter is the first one available from the time after Charlotte Cushman's breakup with Matilda Hays. It is a prime example of Charlotte's longing for Emma Crow whom she met shortly before this correspondence at the beginning of…
Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Emma Crow, Feb 25, [1858]
Charlotte writes to Emma Crow about her feelings for her. Apparently, Emma is very fond of Charlotte and Charlotte fears that she cannot meet Emma's expectations. Charlotte also hints at her troubled relationship with Mrs Kemble and mentions 'little…
Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Emma Crow, Mar 31, 1858
In this letter, Charlotte reassures Emma of her love. She promises to visit Emma soon. Charlotte mentions Harriet Hosmer who is trying to find a winter residence in Rome for Cushman. At the end of the year, Charlotte would eventually move to Via…
Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Emma Crow, Feb 3, 1858
This letter is most likely the first one that Charlotte sends to Emma after they met in St Louis, MO, and fell in love. The preceding week, Charlotte had to leave for Cairo and Emma had prepared basket full of food. Cushman mentions the age gap and…
Frances Power Cobbe
Cobbe stayed with Hosmer and Cushman in Rome, 38 Via Gregoriana, during her Italian travels in 1861/62.Commenting on the role of Rome for independent women, Cobbe publishes Italics: Brief Notes on Politics, People and Places in 1864.In vol. 2 of her…
Letter from Jane Carlyle to Charlotte Cushman, Jan 31, 1862
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 James Fields, Nov 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 Emma Stebbins to Sidney Lanier, March 1, 1876
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.
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Charlotte Cushman
Charlotte Cushman becomes widely known on both sides of the Atlantic as the first successful US-American actress. Earlier, she was a singer under the tutelage of James G. Maeder, married to actress Clara Fisher, in Boston. Charlotte has been the sole financial support of her mother since her father…