Jeannette Leonard Gilder ( pen name, Brunswick; October 3, 1849 – January 17, 1916) was an American author,

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, critic, and editor. She served as the regular correspondent and literary critic for ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', and was also a correspondent for the ''Boston Saturday Evening Gazette'', ''Boston Transcript'', '' Philadelphia Record and Press'', and various other papers. She was the author of ''Taken by Siege''; ''Autobiography of a Tomboy''; and ''The Tomboy at Work''. Gilder was the editor of ''Representative Poems of Living Poets'' (with her brother,

Joseph Benson Gilder Joseph Benson Gilder (June 29, 1858 – December 9, 1936) was an American editor. He was the brother of Richard Watson Gilder and Jeannette Leonard Gilder and the explorer William Henry Gilder. Biography Gilde was the son of the clergyman Willia ...

); ''Essays from the Critic'' (with

Helen Gray Cone Helen Gray Cone (March 8, 1859 – January 31, 1934) was a poet and professor of English literature. She spent her entire career at Hunter College in New York City. Early life and education Cone was born in New York and attended the Normal Colle ...

); ''Pen Portraits of Literary Women''; and ''The Heart of Youth, an anthology''; as well as the owner and editor of ''The Reader: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine''.

Early years and education

Jeannette Leonard Gilder as a young girl

Jeannette Leonard Gilder was born in

Flushing, New York Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the i ...

, October 3, 1849. She was a daughter of the clergyman William Henry Gilder, who died when she was fifteen; and Jane (Nutt) Gilder. Her siblings included,

Richard Watson Gilder Richard Watson Gilder (February 8, 1844 – November 19, 1909) was an American poet and editor. Life and career Gilder was born on February 8, 1844 at Bordentown, New Jersey. He was the son of Jane (Nutt) Gilder and the Rev. William Henry Gi ...

, and William Henry Gilder. Gilder was educated at St. Thomas Hall (woman's collegiate), conducted by her father; and studied at a boarding school in South Jersey for a year or two. Her schooling end at the age of fifteen.

Career

Disliking the occupational options commonly open to women, she instead started working as a researcher for a historian during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

before turning to the periodical industry. From 1869, she was connected with various newspapers in

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

and New York. She began newspaper work in the editorial department of the

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Boston Evening Transcript The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941. Beginnings ''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James Wentworth of the firm of D ...

'', where she used the pen name "Brunswick". Gilder became literary editor for ''

Scribner's Monthly ''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunch ...

'' before becoming a drama and music critic for the ''New York Herald'' until 1880. In

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.state adjutant general's office; in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, at the US Mint; and in 1881, at

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.registrar of deeds A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the sen ...

. In that same year, she and her brother Richard co-founded ''The Critic'', a literary magazine, where she served as an editor from January 1881 to September 1906. Her editor role with ''The Critic'' was shared with her brother Joseph. When ''The Critic'' merged with '' Putnam's Monthly'', she wrote a popular regular column for it called "The Lounger". Gilder opposed

women's right to vote Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. In an article titled "Why I Am Opposed to Woman Suffrage", printed in May 1894 in '' Harper's Bazaar'', she argued that women were not strong enough to participate in politics. It would be "too public, too wearing, and too unfitted to the nature of women", she wrote. She further argued that women would find a "sufficiently engrossing 'sphere' in the very important work of training her children". Her novels include ''The Autobiography of a Tom-boy'' (1900) and ''The Tom-boy at Work'' (1904).

Personal life

Women Authors of Our Day in Their Homes - Jeannette L

Although she had no children of her own, Gilder took in four of her brother's children after their mother's death. She was a member of the Colony Club. Gilder died at her home in New York on January 17, 1916, at the age of 66, after a stroke brought on by a formation of a blood clot on the brain.

Selected works

* ''Representative Poems by Living Persons'' (1886) * ''Pen Portraits of Literary Women'' (1887) * ''Essays from the Critic'' (1882) * ''Authors at Home'' (1889) * ''Why I am opposed to woman suffrage.'' Boston: Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Extension of Suffrage to Women, 894? * ''The Autobiography of a Tom-boy.'' New York: Doubleday, Page, & Co. (1900) * ''The Tom-boy at Work'' (1904)

References

Attribution

* * *

Bibliography

External links

* *
Jeannette Leonard Gilder (1849-1916).

Jeannette Leonard Gilder Papers.
http://www.radcliffe.edu/schles Schlesinger Library], Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilder, Jeannette Leonard 1849 births 1916 deaths 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American newspaper editors 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers American women novelists Boston Evening Transcript people Anti-suffragists American women journalists People from Flushing, Queens American critics 20th-century American non-fiction writers Women newspaper editors