A vivid sense of what it meant to be a woman during the 19th century emerges from this collcetion of more than 200 documents, drawn from three different but related Western cultures. The documents deal with topics such as child rearing, education, religious experience, courtship, marriage, motherhood, friendship, prostitution, and reform work. Special attention is paid to the voices of working women, ex-slaves, and peasants whose experiences are often ignored or forgotten. Material drawn upon includes diaries, letters, autobiographies, poems, medical records, wills, tombstone inscriptions, games, household budgets, etiquette manuals, investigative committee reports, and the writings of 19th century social scientists...