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HALE, Sarah Josepha (Buell)

Born 24 October 1788, Newport, New Hampshire; died 30 April 1879, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Also wrote under: Cornelia, Mrs. Hale, A Lady of New Hampshire

Daughter of Gordon and Martha Whittlesey Buell; married David Hale, 1813 (died 1822); children: five

As editor for many years of Godey's Lady's Book, one of the leading periodicals of the 19th century, Sarah Josepha Hale was perhaps the most widely known and most influential woman of her time. Her enormously successful career as editor, novelist, poet, and essayist is the more remarkable for having commenced at the age of forty.

In the years before she began her editorial work, Hale lived a quiet life in rural New Hampshire. She was educated at home by her mother, who, Hale later said, encouraged her "predilection for literary pursuits," and by her older brother, who shared his college studies when on vacation from Dartmouth. Hale conducted a private school for children from 1806 until 1813, when she married a lawyer. By her own account, Hale's married life was a model of domestic bliss. She admired her husband greatly and spent idyllic evenings with him in reading and study. In 1822, however, just before the birth of their fifth child, Hale died, leaving his wife in financial distress. She soon turned to writing and, with the assistance of her husband's Masonic friends, published The Genius of Oblivion (1823), a thin volume of poetry.

Although the poems are undistinguished, they contain the seeds of themes Hale was later to develop—the superiority of American character, the need for higher education for women, and the differing roles of the sexes (man "rides the wave" and "rules the flame," while woman is the "star of home"). In addition, the first line of the book, "No mercenary muse inspires my lay," is Hale's first pronouncement to the world of the self-image which, as skillful advertiser of herself and her magazines, she was to promote for the rest of her life. She claimed repeatedly that although she had published a few poems during her husband's lifetime, she had never intended to become an "authoress": her chief aim was to prepare reading material for their fireside. She turned to writing and editing neither for financial gain for herself nor for fame or ego satisfaction, but only for funds to educate her children.

Hale's career was launched in 1827 with the publication of her first novel. Northwood is usually represented as one of the earliest novels to contrast American life in the North and South; however, the subtitle, A Tale of New England, more accurately describes Hale's intent. Southern scenes and characters are introduced, like British ones, to point up the characteristics of Yankee life. Hale describes at great length the domestic customs and manners of the postcolonial period in New England. Food, clothing, and architecture receive detailed attention; pages are devoted to the description of a Thanksgiving dinner. There is little plot, except for a frenzied effort at the end, but much preaching. Moral homilies on subjects ranging from the proper education of children to the sins of greed and vanity are interspersed with speeches defending life in New England against typical foreign criticisms.

Despite its flaws Northwood was original and became an instant popular success. Its renown brought Hale an offer to edit a new magazine, and the year after the publication of her novel she found herself in Boston, the editor of Ladies' Magazine. Each issue contained stories, poems, essays, household hints, book reviews, and sketches of American life, the latter often written by Hale herself. In forming her editorial policy Hale simply brought together elements that had been present in her early work: emphasis on America, attention to domestic detail, and frank didacticism, particularly on the subject of women.

In contrast to the current editorial practice of lifting entire articles from other (usually British) magazines, Hale sought original articles by Americans on national subjects. She dedicated the magazine to "female improvement," promising to "cherish the effusions of female intellect" and educate women in domestic skills. Typically, while she reassured men nothing in the magazine would cause their wives and daughters to "encroach on the prerogatives of men," she included a large amount of material on education for women—detailed notices of existing schools and seminaries and editorials advocating teaching as a profession for women and the establishment of infant schools.

Although there had previously been female editors and periodicals for women, Ladies' Magazine was the first one of quality and the first to last more than five years. It attracted the attention of Louis Godey, an enterprising publisher who was editing an inferior magazine in Philadelphia. Godey offered to buy out the Ladies' Magazine and unite it with his Lady's Book under Hale's editorship. Hale accepted and began an association which lasted from 1837 until 1877. She edited Godey's Lady's Book until she was in her ninetieth year.

Because Godey was able to finance the novel practice of paying contributors, Hale could attract better writers, such as Edgar Allan Poe. She also expanded the number of domestic departments begun in Ladies' Magazine. In Godey's can be found the forerunners of most departments existing in today's home magazines: cooking and recipes, sewing and patterns, domestic architecture, interior decoration, etiquette, health advice, gardening, child psychology, beauty, and fashion. Godey's was famous for its hand-colored fashion plates and steel engravings, the number of which increased rapidly through the years.

Missing from Godey's were essays on the political, economic, and religious questions of the day. Hale's advocacy of education for women and other reforms was carried on principally in her editorial columns, for Godey, with an eye on circulation, forbade any controversial articles. Incredibly, the Civil War was never mentioned within the pages. The magazine was successful, however, as circulation climbed from 10,000 in 1837 to 150,000 by 1860, an astounding figure for the time. Godey's was the arbiter of American taste and manners, and Hale's name became literally a household word.

During her career as editor, Hale continued to produce her own work. She published collections of her sketches; she compiled recipe books and household handbooks; she edited gift books, anthologies of verse and letters by women, and works for children. In her Poems for Our Children (1830) is "Mary Had a Little Lamb," the poem for which she is best known today, although her authorship of the first stanza has been disputed. Hale's major work is Woman's Record; or, Sketches of All Distinguished Women from 'The Beginning' till A.D. 1850 (1853). This monumental biographical encyclopedia, still useful today, took her several years to write and contains some 2,500 entries.

Hale also continued to write fiction. In 1852 the fifth edition of Northwood appeared, with revisions by Hale. She changed the subtitle to Life North and South: Showing the True Character of Both and added lengthy discussions of slavery. In the original version, slavery was mentioned as a temporary evil which should not disturb the harmony of North and South; in the later version Hale advances the view that slaves should be taught Christianity, whereupon they might be freed and sent to Africa "to plant Free States and organize Christian civilization." This theory is further developed in her didactic novel, Liberia; or, Mr. Peyton's Experiments (1853).

While Hale has been criticized for her views on slavery, Northwood and Liberia have also been called antislavery novels. Interpretation of Hale has always varied widely. Some of her biographers claim she was a "militant feminist," others a "true conservative." Actually her philosophy, expressed repeatedly in her works, was internally consistent and explains many seeming contradictions. She believed God created women morally superior to men. Eve's sin was less than Adam's, as she fell because of desire for spiritual truth and he from sensual appetite. Eve did sin, however, and woman's punishment is to be subordinate to her husband. She is required to work through him, elevating him and transforming his nature in order to save humanity. In America she is particularly to restrain his materialism and greed to save the nation. Woman's sphere is restricted—she must use her influence only in the domestic realm because if she entered public affairs she might be contaminated.

Thus Hale spoke against women's rights and attacked those leaders who wanted the vote. However, because women had to be educated in order to use their moral powers effectively, she campaigned vigorously for higher education for women and supported educators like Mary Lyon, Emma Willard, and Matthew Vassar. Similarly, although Hale believed slavery was wrong, she thought the slaves should not be freed until their moral sense was developed (by female teachers, of course). Additionally, women could not properly support abolition because in their role as spiritual guardians they should cultivate only peace and harmony.

Hale's philosophy also explains the major contradiction in her life. She thought of herself as a reformer and indeed was an energetic and outspoken supporter of many causes. Yet apart from her advocacy of education for women, the causes for which she labored were essentially trivial ones, such as eliminating the use of "female" as a noun, having Thanksgiving declared a national holiday, and raising money to complete the Bunker Hill Monument. Hale wielded tremendous influence and could unite large numbers of women. She used her power to promote, in her words, women's "happiness and usefulness in their Divinely appointed sphere."