Judith Sargent Murray Society
JSM's dates: 1751-1820
Welcome! You are about to "meet" an extraordinary
woman who changed American history.
woman who changed American history.
The Judith Sargent Murray Society, founded in 1996 by Bonnie Hurd Smith, is dedicated to
honoring the life and legacy of the eighteenth-century essayist, poet, and
playwright who was among America's earliest champions of female equality, education,
economic independence, and political engagement.
public prints (1790)
• First woman in America to self-publish a book,
(The Gleaner, 1798)
• First American to have a play produced in
Boston (1795)
• Most important female essayist of the
New American Republic, according to leading
historians
• Earliest known American Universalist author
• Co-founder of a female academy
• The only eighteenth century woman known to
have kept letter books in a consistent manner
Join the Judith Sargent Murray mailing list
by "liking" her on Facebook!
Bonnie introduces Judith on YouTube!
Judith Sargent Murray was the:
• First to claim female equality in thepublic prints (1790)
• First woman in America to self-publish a book,
(The Gleaner, 1798)
• First American to have a play produced in
Boston (1795)
• Most important female essayist of the
New American Republic, according to leading
historians
• Earliest known American Universalist author
• Co-founder of a female academy
• The only eighteenth century woman known to
have kept letter books in a consistent manner
Join the Judith Sargent Murray mailing list
by "liking" her on Facebook!
Bonnie's entry on Judith is now part of
Oxford University's online Bibliography
of American Literature!
"Your book has arrived. Bravo! Bravo! What a
monumental, worthy, welcome piece of work.
You did it and it looks great. And what long-range
value it will have - there's no way to measure
how far and lasting its reach will be, and all
because you did it. Warmest congratulations
and fond regards."
—David McCullough, Pulitzer prize-winning
author, upon receiving Bonnie Hurd Smith's book
The Letters I Left Behind
“No one, in my view, has done more than
Bonnie Hurd Smith, through the ongoing
publication and assessment of the recently discovered letters of Judith Sargent Murray of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to establish the
position of this remarkable and courageous
woman as one of our pioneer female intellectuals
and patriots during the Revolutionary period.”
—Joseph E. Garland, Gloucester historian
"The idea of the incapability of women is ...
totally inadmissible ... To argue against facts,
is indeed contending with both wind and tide;
and, borne down by accumulating examples, conviction of the utility of the present plans
will pervade the public mind, and not a
dissenting voice will be heard."
—Judith Sargent Murray as her
male persona, "The Gleaner"