InfoGuides: Deaf Suffragists/Activists: Martineau, Harriet

Last Updated: Jul 5, 2024 3:43 PM

Harriet Martineau

(1802-1876) Considered the "mother of sociology". Born at Norwich; began losing her hearing in her early teens, possibly caused by starvation during infancy when her wet nurse did not feed her enough. Homeschooled by two of her brothers and a sister, plus some private tutoring. Prolific and famous writer of books, journals, and newspaper articles, the first appearing in 1823. Made a two-year tour of the United States 1834-1836 and wrote much about her experiences and observations there, including anti-slavery writings. Purchased land in England's Lake District in 1846 and built a home there. Continued to travel (France and the Near East) and write accounts of her trips. Survived a near-fatal illness in 1855, writing her autobiography at that time. Buried in Old Cemetary in Smethwick, Birmingham.

In 1866, she joined other women with a petition for women’s suffrage in a presentation to Parliament.

Harriet Martineau: A Legend Almost Forgotten

Book Title Samples

Deaf Persons in the Arts and Sciences by Harry G. Lang; Bonnie Meath-Lang
Harriet Martineau: First Woman Sociologist
The Hour and the Woman A British journalist and pioneering reformer, Harriet Martineau reigned at the forefront of debates over social and political issues during the Victorian era. The Hour and the Woman chronicles the "somewhat remarkable" life of one of history's most influential, yet overlooked, women writers. At a time when women were valued primarily for appearance, social class, and marital status, Martineau--plain, poor, and single--fought against the odds to win recognition as a writer. Her first professional triumph came in the 1830s when she published a multivolume work on political economy. International fame and literary reputation followed, launching a career that would span the next thirty-five years and plunge Martineau into heated reform efforts on both sides of the Atlantic. Martineau strove to use her personal and political influence for good by staunchly supporting the causes in which she believed. Her fight for the eradication of slavery strengthened the abolitionist movement in the years before the American Civil War, and her advocacy of temperance and women's rights lent crucial assistance to those causes. Many of Martineau's contemporary female writers, including Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Harriet Beecher Stowe, supported her in these endeavors and encouraged her through long-lasting correspondence. The most comprehensive Martineau history to date, The Hour and the Woman offers a unique view of one of the nineteenth century's most complex and fascinating women.
Movers and Shakers, Deaf People Who Changed the World

Book Title Samples

Deaf Lives: Deaf People in History
This is about people in the UK. Learn about royalty such as Queen Alexandra, Princess Plantagenet, and Princess Joanna as well as other deaf women.
Gallaudet Encyclopedia of Deaf People and Deafness
Harriet Martineau, the woman and her work, 1802-76
The Woman and the Hour Harriet Martineau was a major figure in the Victorian period and a prominent speaker in a number of contemporary cultural debates, including racism, atheism, abolitionism, and the status of women. Her various novels, essays, and articles generated tremendous controversy in their reception as they forced such topics of debate into the public realm. Caroline Roberts's The Woman and the Hour provides an engaging examination of seven of Martineau's most contentious texts: Illustrations of Political Economy (1832-34),Society in America (1837), Deerbrook (1839), The Hour and the Man (1841), Letters on Mesmerism (1844), Eastern Life, Present and Past (1848), and Letters on the Laws of Man's Nature and Development (1851). Building on the premise that these works serve as an important gauge of prevailing beliefs, opinions, and attitudes in Victorian society, Roberts situates Martineau's writing in its historical context and presents a sophisticated scholarly analysis of their predominantly hostile reception. Moreover, Roberts integrates close readings with meticulous archival research of periodical reviews, offering a valuable resource and stimulus for both the literary critic and the cultural historian.