Davis, Rebecca Harding (1831–1910)
Davis, Rebecca Harding (1831–1910)
American novelist. Born Rebecca Blaine Harding, June 24, 1831, in Washington, Pennsylvania; died in Mt. Kisco, New York, Sept 29, 1910; grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, and Wheeling, West Virginia; graduate of Washington (Pennsylvania) Female Seminary, 1848; m. L. Clarke Davis (editor of Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Public Ledger), Mar 1863; children: Richard Harding Davis (1864–1916, journalist); and others.
The 1st novelist in the nation to introduce the labor question into fiction, began gaining her reputation for grim reality with Life in the Iron Mills, which was 1st published in the Atlantic Monthly (April 1861); contributed many short stories and sketches to periodicals, was contributing editor for the New York Tribune, and wrote a number of novels, including A Law Unto Herself (1878) and Waiting for the Verdict (1868), about racism in America; later works include Dallas Galbraith, Berrytown, Natasqua, Silhouettes of American Life, Kent Hampden and Doctor Warrick's Daughters.
See also Women in World History.