Josephine E. Keating (, Smith; 1838 – November 8, 1908) was an American literary critic, musician and music teacher of the

long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' is a term for the 125-year period beginning with the onset of the French Revolution in 1789 and ending with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It was coined by Russian writer Ilya Ehrenburg and British Marxist his ...

. After enjoying success in the music field where she sang for charitable and patriotic purposes and taught music, vocal, piano, harp and guitar, she turned to literature, becoming a discerning and discriminating critic. Keating died in 1908.

Biography

Josephine Esselman Smith was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

in 1838. She was educated in the Atheneum in Columbia. From that institution, she was graduated with distinction in vocal and instrumental music. She was first in all her other classes, also studying modern French and English literature. At the beginning of her career, she gave much attention to music and its history and to that of the persons most distinguished as executants or professors of it. Keating was also a singer. After many triumphs in the music field in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, and Memphis, where she sang for charitable and patriotic purposes, teaching music, vocal, piano, harp and guitar, for the support of her family during the war, she turned to literature. She became well known to publishers and literary people throughout the country as a discerning and discriminating critic, serving as the literary editor of the

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

''Appeal'', and later of the Memphis ''Commercial''. Keating was a letter writer, and for eight years, the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

correspondent of the ''Appeal''. During her connection with that journal, she wrote many musical criticisms of value and several sketches of notable musical and theatrical people. She also made many valuable translations from the French, which were well received. In 1856, she married Col. John McLeod Keating (1830-1906), a Memphis journalist. There were two children, a son and a daughter. She died November 8, 1908 in

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Attribution

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keating, Josephine E. 1838 births 1908 deaths 19th-century American writers 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American musicians People from Nashville, Tennessee American literary critics Women literary critics American women critics American women non-fiction writers Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century