Upon her return to Cincinnati, Emma began to deliver lectures. Her A Woman of the Century profile notes: "She was one of the first women who presented parlor lectures on literature in the West" (481). On February 11, 1879, The Cincinnati Daily Star advertised one of her upcoming lectures: "Miss Emma McAvoy will deliver, at College Hall, on the evening of the 28th of February, an evening lecture on the subject, 'The Ode and Errors in Conversation.'" Other lectures over the next two years were on "Sonnet, with Hints for Improvement in Conversation," and "The World's Conversationalists."
As a popular figure on the lecture circuit, Emma often received praise in the press. For example, a week before her 1884 speech in Omaha, Nebraska, The Omaha Daily Bee advertised:
"On next Monday evening, November 24th, Miss Emma McAvoy will lecture on the subject, 'Hints for Improvement in Conversation.' The lady has just delivered four lectures in Denver, and is said to be a pleasing speaker."
She also gave "an able address well delivered" on "Books" in Denver, Colorado, and a "well attended and thoroughly enjoyed" lecture on "Conversation" in Maysville, Kentucky, during 1896. Emma was still lecturing by 1900, when she lived in Cincinnati with her sister Mary.
Emma passed away on February 4, 1919, and is buried in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery.
Emma McAvoy was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 23, 1841. Author and lecturer are the occupations listed at the beginning of her A Woman of the Century profile, but Miss McAvoy's career included other professions.
Like many women of her time, this daughter of an Irish immigrant began her career as a teacher. In April of 1859, Emma was appointed as a teacher in Cincinnati's Third District with a salary of twenty dollars. Her salary may have been low because she was hired in April, since she is listed as having earned three hundred dollars the next year. Later, Emma served as a principal in Kansas City, Missouri.
Upon her return to Cincinnati, Emma began to deliver lectures. Her A Woman of the Century profile notes: "She was one of the first women who presented parlor lectures on literature in the West" (481). On February 11, 1879, The Cincinnati Daily Star advertised one of her upcoming lectures: "Miss Emma McAvoy will deliver, at College Hall, on the evening of the 28th of February, an evening lecture on the subject, 'The Ode and Errors in Conversation.'" Other lectures over the next two years were on "Sonnet, with Hints for Improvement in Conversation," and "The World's Conversationalists."
As a popular figure on the lecture circuit, Emma often received praise in the press. For example, a week before her 1884 speech in Omaha, Nebraska, The Omaha Daily Bee advertised:
"On next Monday evening, November 24th, Miss Emma McAvoy will lecture on the subject, 'Hints for Improvement in Conversation.' The lady has just delivered four lectures in Denver, and is said to be a pleasing speaker."
She also gave "an able address well delivered" on "Books" in Denver, Colorado, and a "well attended and thoroughly enjoyed" lecture on "Conversation" in Maysville, Kentucky, during 1896. Emma was still lecturing by 1900, when she lived in Cincinnati with her sister Mary.
Emma passed away on February 4, 1919, and is buried in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery.
Julia passed away in Boston on December 12, 1891, after having become very ill while participating in a convention. She was just thirty-one years old. Julia was buried in Riverview Cemetery in Streator, Illinois. The year after "Yolande's" death, The Woman's Temperance Publishing Association published A Young Woman Journalist: A Memorial Tribute to Julia A. Ames.
]]>Julia A. Ames, a gifted editor, orator, and temperance reformer, was born in Odell, Illinois, on October 14, 1860. She graduated from Streator High School, Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, and the Chicago School of Oratory.
Julia spent much of her life in the Chicago area. During her early efforts for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Julia worked closely with Levancia Holcomb Plumb. Frances Elizabeth Willard and Matilda B. Carse are just two other people in Julia's personal network. Matilda B. Carse gave Julia the nickname "Yolande," after she noted Julia's similarity to the heroine of an 1883 novel by William Black (A Young Woman Journalist, 39).
In addition to her efforts on behalf of temperance reform, Ames wrote for the Chicago Inter-Ocean and edited the Union Signal. She was a member of, and later the president of, the Woman's Temperance Publishing Circle of King's Daughters.
Julia passed away in Boston on December 12, 1891, after having become very ill while participating in a convention. She was just thirty-one years old. Julia was buried in Riverview Cemetery in Streator, Illinois. The year after "Yolande's" death, The Woman's Temperance Publishing Association published A Young Woman Journalist: A Memorial Tribute to Julia A. Ames.
Once she moved to Boston, Emma wrote a book of poems and contributed to several periodicals. Often writing as "E. E. Brown," she penned several biographical sketches, poems, and short stories for periodicals such as Aldine, Atlantic Monthly, Living Age, and Wide Awake.
Noticing her piece "The Child Toilers of Boston Streets" in the February 1878 edition of Wide Awake, The Ottawa Free Trader of Illinois said that "Emma E. Brown gives us a glimpse of Boston New Boys' life." Sharing what she learned in her travels, Emma wrote "Easter in Florence." This piece of travel writing was published for that holiday in 1895 in the Turner County Herald of Hurley, South Dakota.
Author Emma Elizabeth Brown was born on October 18, 1847. Emma's literary career began in her native town, Concord, New Hampshire, when she submitted a poem to the Concord Monitor.
Once she moved to Boston, Emma wrote a book of poems and contributed to several periodicals. Often writing as "E. E. Brown," she penned several biographical sketches, poems, and short stories for periodicals such as Aldine, Atlantic Monthly, Living Age, and Wide Awake.
Noticing her piece "The Child Toilers of Boston Streets" in the February 1878 edition of Wide Awake, The Ottawa Free Trader of Illinois said that "Emma E. Brown gives us a glimpse of Boston New Boys' life." Sharing what she learned in her travels, Emma wrote "Easter in Florence." This piece of travel writing was published for that holiday in 1895 in the Turner County Herald of Hurley, South Dakota.