Nancy Rubin Stuart on Mercy Otis Warren

When people think of influential women in the founding era, Abigail Adams immediately comes to mind (and rightly so). And then names like Martha Washington and Dolly Madison also emerge. But after that, the average American - well, the average American interested in history, I should say - begins to scratch his or her head.

Well, the truth is, there were several women who played an important role in shaping early American thought and culture. And historian Nancy Rubin Stuart is intent on helping us to remember and honor one of them.

Stuart is the author of The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation. The book is a biographical tribute to Mercy Otis Warren, an extraordinary woman in an extraordinary time.





Perhaps Warren's most noteworthy accomplishment was her three-volume History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution. (It was noteworthy as well for offending John Adams).

The Beacon Broadside has featured a piece from Nancy Rubin Stuart titled "Remembering a Founding Mother on July 4, 2008," which you can read here.

One may quibble with Stuart's politics, who (in her article for The Beacon Broadside) describes the Bush administration as one "that favors the wealthy over the ordinary man." Nevertheless, her insight on Warren is well worth your time.

Soon, the Bostonian Society will feature online a lecture by Stuart, that was recorded on June 17. The lecture features portrayals of Warren by actresses Barbara Delorey and Patrice Hatcher and a presentation by Stuart on her research.