Matoaca Gay (1841 - 1915) was an American writer and literary scholar. She was born in

Henrico County Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 334,389 making it the fifth-most populous county in Virginia. Henrico Coun ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

to Edward S. Gay, and Catherine Tazewell Gay. Seventh in a direct line from

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...

Matoaka Rebecca Rolfe, for whom she was named, Matoaca was the eldest of six children. She moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1882, on the advice of her friend Sue Virginia Swearingen, the wife of Supreme Court Justice

Field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

. :File:Matoaca_Gay_-_Shakespeare_clipping.png

Society Writer

Matoaca Gay wrote a society column under the name of "Bric-a-Brac".

Shakespearean Scholar

Matoaca Gay became interested in acting when she lived in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. She contacted noted Shakespearean actor

Lawrence Barrett Lawrence Patrick Barrett (April 4, 1838 – March 20, 1891) was an American stage actor. Barrett began his career in 1853 in Detroit and made his first New York appearance in 1856. Barrett enlisted for the American Civil War in 1862, but resigne ...

, who provided books, advice, and became a life-long friend. Her long running private Shakespeare study group was made up of Washington society women. Among others: * Josephine Ward Thomson * Julia Peete Bate, wife of Senator

William B. Bate William Brimage Bate (October 7, 1826March 9, 1905) was a planter and slaveholder, Confederate officer, and politician in Tennessee. After the Reconstruction era, he served as the 23rd governor of Tennessee from 1883 to 1887. He was elected to th ...

* Mary "Polly" Condit-Smith The gatherings included lectures, group readings of the plays, and guest lectures from some of the leading Shakespearean actors of the time, including

and

Edwin Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American stage actor and theatrical manager who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Th ...

. By 1897 she was teaching Shakespeare at the Gunston Institute, a boarding and day school for girls in Washington D. C. In 1906, she was quoted as saying that she had "taught Shakespeare to everybody in the world except the Pope and the President!"

Pocahontas Foundation

Because of her relationship to

, Matoaca Gay was made the honorary president of the Pocahontas Memorial Association. This group began collecting money in 1906, to build the Pocahontas Memorial in Jamestown.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, Matoaca 1841 births 1915 deaths Shakespearean scholars Schoolteachers from Washington, D.C. People from Henrico County, Virginia