Reflection on Sarah Hale and the Ladies Magazine

Introduction

Hale turned to writing in 1822 as a widow trying to support her family. She edited the Ladies' Magazine (1828-37) and then Godey's Lady's Book (1837-77); as the first female magazine editor, she shaped many of the attitudes and ideas of women of the period. Though not the first woman editor in America, Mrs. Hale was unique in the rigor of her standards. Pledging in the Ladies' Magazine to “mark the progress of female improvement, and cherish the effusions of female intellect,” she reduced the ephemeral poetry and fiction which clogged the pages of most ...