Emma Ghent Curtis (May 18, 1860 – February 9, 1918) was an American novelist, poet, newspaper publisher,

Populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

, and suffragist. Curtis published two

Western novels Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 20th century and ...

in the late 1880s. The second of these, ''The Administratrix'', is the first cowboy novel outside of the

dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S. popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related forms, r ...

tradition, preceding Owen Wister's '' The Virginian'' by more than a decade. Curtis was instrumental in making

women's suffrage 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 ...

part of the Populist platform.

Early life and background

Emma Ghent was born to Ira Keith Ghent and Mary Palmer Ghent in 1860, in

Frankfort, Indiana Frankfort is a city in Clinton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 16,422 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Clinton County. History Brothers John, William and Nicholas Pence, previously of Warren County, Ohio, settl ...

. Her father was a farmer. She graduated from Frankfort High School in 1877. Emma Ghent married James Curtis, a rancher, on January 2, 1882, in

Cañon City, Colorado Cañon City is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 17,141 at the 2020 United States Census. Cañon City is the principal city of t ...

. The couple had two children.

Career

Writing

Curtis published her first novel, ''The Fate of a Fool'', in 1888. Set in Colorado, the novel explores the negative effects of

sex work Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to volunt ...

on both men and women. Gessia, a music teacher, marries a handsome and well-off rancher, only to discover that he previously patronized the local brothel. The couple spend much of the novel arguing about the social ramifications of sex work. In the end, Gessia dies of exhaustion, full of shame regarding the "impurity" of her husband. Curtis's second novel, ''The Administratrix,'' followed in 1889. Mary, the novel's protagonist, is a schoolteacher who moves from Indiana to Colorado. She falls in love with a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

named Jim, who is a vocal advocate for women's rights. When Jim is murdered, Mary crossdresses as a cowboy in order to find his killers and get revenge. This novel was the first outside of the

tradition to feature a cowboy as the main character. These would be Curtis's only two novels. She published a short story titled "In the Dark of the Moon" in a special issue of ''

The Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associatio ...

'' celebrating Western writers, as well as many poems in magazines and newspapers. In her poetry, Curtis explored issues of women's and universal suffrage, including the hypocrisy she perceived in a black male activist's opposition to women's suffrage.

Educational administration

Curtis served on the Board of Control for the State Industrial School for Boys, a juvenile corrections facility located in

Jefferson County, Colorado Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 582,910, making it the fourth-most populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Golden, and the most populous city is Lakewood. ...

, from 1893 to 1896. The school was established by the state in 1881, and served to teach industrial skills like

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

, blacksmithing, and

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

to boys aged 7–16 who had been convicted of crimes. As a board member, Curtis signed the school's biennial reports, which detailed how allocated funds had been used and requests for additional funds for necessary improvements.

Populism and suffrage

Curtis was an active member of the People's Party and a labor suffragist who emphasized the importance of women union members' efforts in canvassing for the vote. She published a newspaper, ''The Royal Gorge'', to promote women's suffrage. She attended Populist conventions in 1891 in Cincinnati and 1892 in St. Louis and Omaha as a delegate. At the Omaha convention, Curtis and other suffragists succeeded in making women's suffrage a part of the party's platform and in getting more women elected as party delegates. Curtis actively participated in the campaign for women's suffrage in Colorado; in 1893, the state became the first to grant women the right to vote by referendum. Curtis ran for Colorado state senator in 1894, and in 1898 she was chosen as the People's Party's nominee for Colorado Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Death and legacy

Emma Ghent Curtis died in Cañon City, Colorado, on February 9, 1918. In the 21st century, scholars of Western fiction have recognized Curtis as part of a tradition of women's Western writing. Victoria Lamont argues that the cowboy novel, previously thought to have started with

Owen Wister Owen Wister (July 14, 1860 – July 21, 1938) was an American writer and historian, considered the "father" of western fiction. He is best remembered for writing '' The Virginian'' and a biography of Ulysses S. Grant. Biography Early life ...

's '' The Virginian'', in fact began with Curtis's ''The Administratrix'', published more than 10 years earlier.

References

External links

* * Curtis, Emma Ghent
''The Fate of a Fool''.
New York: John A. Berry & Company, 1888. * Curtis, Emma Ghent.
The Administratrix
'. New York: John B. Alden, 1889. {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Emma Ghent 1860 births 1918 deaths People from Cañon City, Colorado People from Frankfort, Indiana 19th-century American novelists American suffragists American women novelists Colorado Populists Women in Colorado politics Writers from Colorado Writers from Indiana Poets from Colorado American women poets