Art Work: Women Artists and Democracy in Mid-Nineteenth-Century New York

"I was in high spirits all through my unwise teens, considerably puffed up, after my drawings began to sell, with that pride of independence which was a new thing to daughters of that period."—The Reminiscences of Mary Hallock Foote

Mary Hallock made what seems like an audacious move for a nineteenth—century young woman. She became an artist. She was not alone. Forced to become self—supporting by financial panics and civil war, thousands of young women moved to New York City between 1850 and...