ABSTRACT
Women's perspectives on social and cultural phenomena have been recognized as central to a more thorough reconstruction of the past. For Elizabeth Stoddard scholars, the existing forty-five letters from Stoddard to sweat, for example, provide 'vivid pictures of men and manners' in mid-century New York City, as well as Portland, Maine, and coastal Massachusetts. They are also the best known source for information about Stoddard's life and 'character' in the early 1850s. Most importantly these letters sheds light on what is widely considered one of the most important relationships of her early life, her intimate friendship with Margaret Sweat, and thereby contribute much to our understanding of 'romantic friendships' between nineteenth-century American women. In the correspondence between Stoddard and Sweat, the theater and Cushman in particular are noted as a shared passion; in fact, Cushman may be an object through which Stoddard can indicate her own passion for other women.
