Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Catalog Data

Artist:
Unidentified Artist  Search this
Sitter:
Sarah Tittle Barrett Bolton, 1814 - 1893  Search this
Medium:
Quarter-plate daguerreotype
Dimensions:
Image: 8.8 × 6.3 cm (3 7/16 × 2 1/2")
Sheet: 10.5 × 8.1 cm (4 1/8 × 3 3/16")
Case Open: 11.7 × 19 × 0. 6cm (4 5/8 × 7 1/2 × 1/4")
Case Closed: 11.7 × 9.5 × 1.2 cm (4 5/8 × 3 3/4 × 1/2")
Type:
Photograph
Date:
c. 1850
Exhibition Label:
Born Newport, Kentucky
Among the wave of women writers who emerged during America’s antebellum publishing boom, poet and reformer Sarah T. Bolton first published her verses in an Indiana newspaper at the age of thirteen. She went on to pen more than 150 works. Though sentimental by modern standards, Bolton’s poetry struck a chord with Victorian readers. Her best-known poem, “Paddle Your Own Canoe” (1851), championed individual initiative in overcoming adversity and included a call to, “Battle for the right. / And break the chains that bind / the mighty to the few.” An advocate for women’s prop- erty rights, Bolton lobbied unsuccessfully for their protection in Indiana’s state constitution.
Nacida en Newport, Kentucky
Poeta y reformista, Sarah T. Bolton fue parte de la ola de escritoras que surgieron durante el boom editorial anterior a la Guerra Civil Estadounidense. Publicó sus primeros versos a los 13 años en un periódico de Indiana, y llegó a producir más de 150 obras. Aunque hoy se consideraría sentimental, su poesía caló hondo en los lectores de la era victo- riana. Su poema más conocido, “Paddle Your Own Canoe” (1851), defiende la iniciativa individual ante la adversidad con un llamado a “Luchar por la justicia. / Y romper las cadenas que atan / el poder a unos pocos”. Defensora del derecho de la mujer a la propiedad, Bolton abogó sin éxito por dicha protec- ción bajo la constitución estatal de Indiana.
Topic:
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair  Search this
Printed Material\Book  Search this
Costume\Jewelry\Brooch  Search this
Costume\Jewelry\Ring  Search this
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Table  Search this
Sarah Tittle Barrett Bolton: Female  Search this
Sarah Tittle Barrett Bolton: Literature\Writer\Poet  Search this
Sarah Tittle Barrett Bolton: Natural Resource Occupations\Pioneer  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Object number:
NPG.2012.74
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location:
Currently not on view
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4dbd2293a-6bd3-4872-a1ef-488f106ed289
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.2012.74