Eliza Farnham

Infobox Writer
name = Eliza Farnham


caption = This book cover shows Eliza Farnham on the left.
birthdate = birth date|1815|11|17|mf=y
birthplace = Rensselaerville, New York
deathdate = death date and age|1864|12|15|1815|11|17|mf=y
deathplace = New York City, New York
occupation = Novelist, feminist, abolitionist, and activist for prison reform
genre = non-fiction
notableworks = Woman and Her Era (1864)

Eliza Farnham (November 17, 1815 – December 15, 1864) was a 19th-century American novelist, feminist, abolitionist, and activist for prison reform. Her fame as a writer rests upon her work "Life in Prairie Land" (1846), an account of life on the Illinois prairie near Pekin between 1836 and 1840. She strongly believed in the use of phrenology to treat prisoners [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=458151] . During a brief stint as matron of the women's ward at Sing Sing Prison, she also advocated using music and kindness in the rehabilitation of female prisoners.

Writings

*"Life in the Prairie Land", 1846 - An account of life on the Illinois prairie near Pekin between 1836 and 1840.
*"California, In-doors and Out", 1856 - A chronicle of her experiences and observations on California.
*"My Early Days", 1859 - An autobiographical novel.
*"Woman and Her Era", 1864 - "Organic, religious, esthetic, and historical" arguments for woman's inherent superiority.
* "The Ideal Attained", 1865 - The heroine molds the hero into a worthy mate.

ee also

*Bakken, G., & Farrington, B. (2003). Encyclopedia of Women in the American West, p. 124. Thousand Oaks: Sage. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN076192356X&id=U9zIeyugktEC&pg=RA1-PA124&lpg=RA1-PA124&ots=k5WwzDVHq7&dq=eliza+farnham+tuberculosis&sig=q-IYY-oRmGnS5zRskHuKKjZEEpY#PRA1-PA124,M1 Link to Google Book Search excerpt] Stern, Madeleine (1971). Heads and Headlines: The Phrenological Fowlers. University of Oklahoma Press: Norman.

Persondata
NAME=Farnham, Eliza
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American novelist, feminist, abolitionist, and activist for prison reform
DATE OF BIRTH=November 17, 1815
PLACE OF BIRTH=Rensselaerville, New York
DATE OF DEATH=December 15, 1864
PLACE OF DEATH=New York City, New York