Graphing a Bio: Footsteps, Autopsies, and Portraits as Methods for Life Histories

• In Event: Methodological Issues in Biographical Research

Abstract

This paper utilizes Life History biography to perform a historical biography of three female educators and historians. I will argue that nineteenth-century educated women were able to incite socio-political change within their own local communities by purposely placing themselves in varied public spheres where their advocacy could be most effective.This change is particularly observed by examining the “body-parts” of three women as they sought public influence and pursuits outside of teaching. This approach, inaugurated by Hermione Lee disrupts what has been traditionally understood about biographical and/or narrative writing of a subject.

Author

• Annmarie Valdes, Loyola University Chicago