Kate Field: The Many Lives of a Nineteenth-Century American Journalist

Writing American Women

by Gary Scharnhorst

Kate Field was among the first celebrity journalists. A literary and cultural sensation, she reported the news while frequently becoming news herself because of her sharp wit and vibrant presence. She wrote for several prestigious newspapers, such as the Boston Post, Chicago Tribune, and New York Herald, as well her own Kate Field’s Washington. Field’s friends and professional acquaintances included Charles Dickens, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Anthony Trollope, and George Eliot. Legendary novelist Henry James patterned the character of Henrietta Stackpole after her in T he Portrait of a Lady. In this eloquent and immensely readable biography, Gary Scharnhorst offers a fascinating, often poignant portrait of a fiercely intelligent and enormously independent woman who contributed significantly to America’s intellectual and social life in the late nineteenth century. Kate Field was an outspoken advocate for the rights of black Americans and founder of the first woman’s club in America. She campaigned to make Yosemite a national park and saved John Brown’s Adirondack farm for the nation. The range of Field’s activities should foster interest in her biography from students and scholars of nineteenth-century American literature, women’s studies, journalism, and biography, and from both public and academic libraries.

Genres: Biography

306 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Gary Scharnhorst, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at the University of New Mexico, is the author or editor of more than forty books. He is also the editor of the journal American Literary Realism and the editor in alternating years of the research annual American Literary Scholarship.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam Clemens (jealous of her success, greater than his as a journalist) called Kate Field "a loud vulgar beauty." Ouch. Poor Kate. She's fallen into history's footnote section, yet in her day, she was just as much in demand as a writer and lecturer as Clemens was. She was one of those people who knew everyone and went everywhere, recording all the while her impressions and opinions for American and British newspapers. She also acted, sang and wrote successful plays. A terrible businesswoman, she had several failed enterprises, including a newspaper, on her resume, but like Mark Twain, could recoup her losses by going on the lecture circuit to talk about anything from Dickens and Browning to the insanity of the current Mormon church leaders. In my imaginary dinner party list, she'd definitely have a seat - just not next to Sam.

[Joe Von · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scharnost is THE scholar on Kate Field. I figured, surely there wouldn't be a Kate Field scholar out there when I stumbled upon her in 2023 for my research. Lo and behold Scharnost who has written about nearly every factor of this forgotten celebrity's life. Barely an inch, let alone a lacuna, left to fill in scholarship towards her, however I found some ground and give to study.

Really helpful resource. The writing can be fun at points, repetitive at others. "Aver" I believe is Scharnost's favorite word. He let's Kate Field speak for herself through much of the book which I appreciate as a scholar. Her life is exhaustively covered in this book, and at points, exhaustive it is, not on the author's fault but the sheer magnitude and range of Field's endeavors, interesting as they may be. Sometimes learning about a wealthy 19th century celebrity's travels to Europe for the third or fourth time is a touch tiring.

All in all a great resource!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

see my review at Reading World.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Field didn't rebel against the narrow boundaries for women of her day, she didn't recognize them. She lived her life on her terms. Her artistic family gave her travel opportunities, a circle of creative friends and literary contacts. From this fortunate start she built her career.

It was a career in journalistic multimedia. She lectured, she wrote, she acted in traditional drama and performance art, she sang, and even had a clothing line. She was the spokeswoman for "the telephone" and for California wines. While she had many colleagues, she had no peers.

It could be that for not having been associated with any one achievement, her name got lost somewhere in the clutter of history. What may be her most interesting studies, the Mormon Church and the "state" of the Alaska Territory were never published.

She rejected her Copperhead roots, but her political views were a mixed bag of progressiveness and nativism. She was for limited suffrage for both men and women and an advocate for better access to the Chicago World's Fair for working people. She goes to Hawaii, touting her presumably open mind on whether it will be a territory or a kingdom

Author, Gary Scharnhorst thoroughly documents her story in this short book. The reference sources make the writing tend towards a reportorial style.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't decide what to think about this book. Kate Field is a pretty interesting person. She was the model for Henrietta Stackpole in Henry James's Portrait of a Lady. She was a kind of celebrity journalist hanging out with all sorts of literary people in both England and the US, travelling all over giving lectures about Dickens, the evils or Mormonism and so on. Definitely marched to the beat of her own drum, politically and personally, and not always terribly likable.

The writing style of this biography was kind of annoying. I understand that if you are writing about a writer, letting them speak in their own words is necessary, but far too many quotations!