Writing History: Stories of a Rare Manuscript Collection — gender studies

For over a decade beginning in the 1830s, Sarah Luther Howe Holdrege Martial wrote every dispatch and letter from the American consulate in Nantes to the United States government in Washington. However, history remembers only the men who signed Sarah's work, forgetting the woman whose pen actually completed it. Nearly two centuries later, an archive of this woman's letter drafts and associated papers has been found. Spanning over 65 pages, these records of her family and business affairs bring her lived experiences to light. Combining these new insights with official documents unearthed from the U.S. National Archives finally gives Sarah a voice and reclaims her rightful place in American history.