The Uppity Women Of Downtown NYC Lecture on Roosevelt Island - February 12, 6:30 PM At The Public Library

Image From Roosevelt Island Historical Society

According to the Roosevelt Island Public Library and Roosevelt Island Historical Society:

As New York grew in the 19th century, its reputation as sin city ballooned almost as fast as women’s skirts. Just living in such a volatile place could endanger a woman’s most precious possession: her reputation. Today, the search for women who tested boundaries and redefined roles turns up a passel of uppity gals whose bonnets and ribbons cannot hide their bold spirits.

Historian Kathleen Hulser will describe some fascinating personalities in a lecture on The Uppity Women of Downtown New York, sponsored by the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, at the New York Public Library Branch on Roosevelt Island, on Tuesday, February 12, at 6:30 p.m.

Some highlights will include the Beautiful Cigar Girl, Mary Rogers, whose story inspired Edgar Allan Poe’s first foray into the detective genre, and whose tale links her to Madame Restell, who spent time in the prison on Blackwell’s Island.

Also featured are mid-century rule-breakers, like spiritualist and stock-broker Victoria Woodhull and bridge-builder Emily Roebling. Entering the 20th century, at the moment corsets loosen, both Emma Goldman and Nellie Bly defy social conventions and grab headlines, as well as spending time on the island. Later, a very good girl, Eleanor Roosevelt, who in both her early days as part of a network of progressive women and her later years as United Nations activist, embodies how women can do anything they set their minds to. Pictures of gals in motion amply demonstrate that hoops and yards of petticoats can’t keep a good woman down.

The event is FREE and open to the public.