Minerva's Circle: Margaret Fuller's Women

Minerva's Circle: Margaret Fuller's Women opens on the Boston Conversations led by Margaret Fuller between 1839 and 1844, exploring the status of Woman and women's rights. Judith Strong Albert has created a fictional session partially based on notes written by participants at the Conversations. She gives vivid narratives of the lives of four New England women, drawing upon their own writinga: Margaret Fuller herself as well as Lydia Maria Child, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and Caroline Healey Dall -- all three of whom were deeply influenced by Fuller and, in turn, influenced her. Their biographies offer parallel views of childhood, life choices and work. These women left profound legacies shaping civil rights, children's education and women's rights in America. Minerva's Circle illuminates the linkage between the four women, the thrust of their ideas and their impact on 20th century feminism, concluding with an overview of the history of feminism in the United States.