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A Recreation of the Woman’s Literary Department from the New Orleans 1884 World’s Fair.
Discover the Sisterhood
The original Woman’s Literary Department was created for exhibition at the 1884 New Orleans World’s Fair. It comprised more than 1,400 items – books, journals, newspapers, and sheet music donated by publishers and collected by “lady delegates” from around the US.
While the vast majority of these materials were written and edited by US women, writing from England, France, and Germany was also included – as were several titles by men. Black women were not represented, despite having proposed to exihibit their works alongside those by white women.
At the Fair’s conclusion, the director of the Woman’s Literary Department, Maud Howe, declared herself determined “to keep this beautiful sisterhood of books together” as a permanent library. But circumstances intervened and, within months of its presentation to a local arts society, the physical collection was scattered and lost.
This Beautiful Sisterhood of Books recovers Maud’s library for new readers and researchers.
Explore Maud’s library in its new digital form…
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