Charlotte Anna Perkins
Born 3 July 1860 in Hartford, Hartford Co., Connecticut.[1] Daughter of Frederic Beecher Perkins and Mary A. Fitch Westcott.[2] Attended the Rhode Island School of Design, 1878; supported herself as an artist of trade cards, a tutor, and a governess.[3] Married first Charles Walter Stetson, 2 May 1884, in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island; one child.[4] Divorced, 1894.[5] An accomplished writer, poet, and lecturer; wrote “The Yellow Wall-Paper” of her experiences with depression and Women and Economics on feminism and economic independence for women, published in seven languages.[6] Addressed the International Council of Women in London, 1899, where she met Susa Young Gates and EBW, and in Berlin, 1904; corresponded with Susa Young Gates for many years.[7] EBW began working in 1899 to bring her lecture series to Salt Lake City.[8] Married second George H. Gilman in Detroit, 11 June 1900.[9] Writer and editor of the magazine Forerunner, 1906–1916.[10] Visited and lectured in Salt Lake City, 1924–1927.[11] Died 17 Aug. 1935 in Pasadena, Los Angeles Co., California.[12]
[1] Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), 2:39. “U. S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925,” database, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com, accessed 27 Dec. 2019), Charlotte Perkins Gilman; from National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington DC.
[2] Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), 2:39. Geo. A. Perkins, ed., The Family of John Perkins of Ipswich, Massachusetts (Salem, MA: George A. Perkins, 1889), 3:135, 136. 1870 U.S. Census, Hartford Ward 1, Hartford, CT, p. 190. Charlotte A. Perkins.
[3] Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), 2:39. “About Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935)” (http://www.charlotteperkinsgilman.com/2008/05/about-charlotte-perkins-gilman-1860.html, accessed 27 Dec. 2019).
[4] Rhode Island, Division of Vital Records, Vital Records and Indexes for Births, Deaths, and Marriages, 1853–1900, vols. 29–31, 1884, p. 507, Charles Stetson and Charlotte Perkins, microfilm 1822996, DGS 7734113, image 704/763, FHL. Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), 2:39.
[5] Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), 2:39. “About Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935)” (http://www.charlotteperkinsgilman.com/2008/05/about-charlotte-perkins-gilman-1860.html, accessed 27 Dec. 2019).
[6] Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), 2:40–41. “Charlotte Perkins Gilman: American Author and Social Reformer,” Encyclopedia Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charlotte-Perkins-Gilman, accessed 27 Mar. 2018).
[7] Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), 2:40. Amanda Hendricks-Komoto, “The Yellow Wallpaper in Zion: The Friendship between Susa Young Gates and Charlotte Perkins Gilman,” Juvenile Instructor, 17 Mar. 2012 (http://juvenileinstructor.org/yellow-wallpaper-in-sion-the-thriedship-between-susa-young-gates-and-charlotte-perkins-gilman/, accessed 27 Mar. 2018). Susa Young Gates Papers, MS 7692, box 38, folders 11–13, CHL.
[8] EBW, Diary, 18 and 29 Nov. 1899; 5 and 6 Mar. 1900; 12 Apr. 1900; 14 Sept. 1904.
[9] “Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867–1952,” database, Ancestry.com (https://ancestry.com, accessed 27 Dec. 2019), George H. Gillman and Charlotte A. P. Stetson; Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing.
[10] Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), 2:41. “About Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935)” (http://www.charlotteperkinsgilman.com/2008/05/about-charlotte-perkins-gilman-1860.html, accessed 27 Dec. 2019).
[11] “Writer and Lecturer, Assembly Hall Speaker,” Salt Lake Telegram, 14 Feb. 1924, 2. “Noted Feminist to Lecture for Week at Summer School,” Salt Lake Telegram, 26 June 1927, 7. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1935), 273.
[12] “California, Death Index, 1905–1939,” database, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com, accessed 27 Dec. 2019), Charlotte P. Gilman; California Department of Health and Welfare, Sacramento. “Noted Feminist Takes Own Life to ‘Advance Wiser Views on Suicide,’” Salt Lake Tribune, 20 Aug. 1935, 10.