Louisa Knapp Curtis (October 21, 1851 – February 25, 1910) (also known as Louisa Knapp) was an American

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

and the first editor of the ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th centur ...

'' from 1883 to 1889. It became one of the most popular magazines published in the United States and reached a circulation of one million within ten years. Curtis turned over the editorship to Edward Bok in 1889 but she continued to author a column and provide oversight. She was married to Cyrus Curtis, head of the Curtis Publishing Company, and took over from her husband as the author of the

women's page The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a newspaper was a section devoted to covering news assumed to be of interest to women. Women's pages started out in the 19th century as Society reporting, society pages and event ...

monthly supplement ''Women at Home'' for the ''Tribune and Farmer'' weekly newspaper.

Early life

In 1875, Louisa Knapp married Cyrus Curtis when he was the publisher of ''The People's Ledger'' in Boston. They met while singing in a concert to celebrate the end of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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.J ...

. Louisa was working as a private secretary for Samuel Gridley Howe, a prominent Boston physician and husband of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

activist

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe ( ; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as new lyrics to an existing song, and the original 1870 pacifist Mothers' Day Proclamation. She w ...

. After a fire destroyed the Boston publishing plant for Cyrus' newspaper, they moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, in 1876 and he founded the ''Tribune and Farmer''.

Career

Cyrus was the original author of the ''Women and Home'' column in the ''Tribune and Farmer'' weekly newspaper. It was originally developed from articles clipped from other sources and surrounded by advertisements directed toward women. Louisa criticized the column to her husband since she felt it did not address the real concerns of women. She convinced her husband that she could do a better job and began to write original content directed toward women. The column proved extremely popular and soon grew to fill a full page. The Curtises decided to publish a monthly supplement that would be included in the ''Tribune and Farmer''. The first issue of the supplement was released in December 1883 and titled ''Ladies' Home Journal and Practical Housekeeper''. It was written by Louisa under her maiden name and published by her husband. The supplement proved so popular that it was expanded to a magazine and Louisa became the first editor. The magazine title was shortened to ''Ladies' Home Journal'' in 1886. In July 1889, the Curtises decided to expand the magazine to a 32-page magazine with a cover. Louisa resigned as editor and Edward Bok became the new editor. Louisa Knapp Curtis gravestone

She died on February 25, 1910, in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, and was interred at

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery, also called Laurel Hill East to distinguish it from the affiliated West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, Bala Cynwyd, is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls, Philadelphia, East Falls neighborhood ...

in Philadelphia.

Family

Louisa and Cyrus Curtis had one child, Mary Louise Curtis, who married Edward Bok in 1896. She founded Bok Tower Gardens, the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

, the Curtis Hall Arboretum and the Curtis Center.

Citations

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Louisa Knapp 1851 births 1910 deaths 19th-century American women writers American magazine editors American women columnists Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Curtis family People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania Private secretaries American women magazine editors Ladies' Home Journal editors 19th-century American businesspeople