Women of reform: The periodical editing careers of Margaret Fuller, Lydia Maria Child, Caroline Healey Dall, and Jane Grey Swisshelm

Women periodical editors occupied a unique position within nineteenth-century American society. As women, they held limited power in the public sphere; however, as editors, they wielded tremendous power within the literary marketplace. One could argue that these editors shaped American culture with the daily selections they chose to print. This study examines the periodical editing careers of four women reformers who utilized the periodical press to educate their readers about the concept of self-culture and its application to the social reformation of society.;Margaret Fuller, Lydia Maria Child, Caroline Healey Dall, and Jane Grey Swisshelm represent a progression in reform rhetoric and the ways women editors implemented this rhetoric in nineteenth-century periodicals. As Dial editor, Fuller established the role of cultural and social critic for women reformers. As the prototype for the application of the Transcendentalist concept of self-culture, Fuller provided women an opportunity to think for themselves that evolved into taking care of themselves, both physically and intellectually. This newfound power allowed women reformers to expand their influence to society's ills through the cultural work of reform. As Fuller's contemporary, Child is the next stage in this development as the first woman to edit an established anti-slavery periodical. Her conceptual inculcation of individualism and self-culture into anti-slavery discourse reshaped the movement itself. Dall follows Child in this progression as co-editor of the first woman's rights periodical. Her efforts to formulate the rhetoric of the woman's rights movement through the education of her readers was a direct result of the groundwork laid by Fuller. Finally, Swisshelm signifies the culmination of this progression of reform rhetoric into a mainstream role for women in public discourse. As editor and owner of her own reform periodical, Swisshelm exerted significant influence over the reform movements of the nineteenth century. She represents a key moment in women's history between the early endeavors of women reformers in public discourse and the later efforts of activists in the modern women's rights movement. Thus, the role of social critic established by Fuller was expanded by the editors who followed her into various roles in the reform movements.