The Birthplace of Sara Payson Willis

     In Fern’s Ruth Hall, we see the title character find her voice as a writer after becoming a widow, struggling with being a single mother, and dealing with critique from various family members. The story, although fictionalized, is an autobiography of Fanny Fern’s life. Fern was critiqued for the way that she portrayed the people in her personal life. One review says, “The course of Fanny Fern, even under the supposition that her lot may have been uncommonly and unnaturally hard, should be deprecated, and the corrupt principles of her example, even supposing her story to be true, should be denounced. But what ought we to say—are there expressions severe enough to condemn her, should we find her book a tissue of slanderous fabrications? What are the inferences to be drawn from it?” (“A California Lady’s Opinion of Fanny Fern.” The Pioneer 3 (June 1855: 363-367.) Fern’s portrayal of her financial hardships as a single, working mother led us to be interested in researching how women were able to find their voices and fight their oppressors, such as those criticizing Fern’s choice to publish a fictionalized autobiography.