CHENEY, Mrs. Ednah Dow

Ednah Dow Cheney, the daughter of Sargent Smith Littlehale and Edna Parker Littlehale, was born in Boston, MA on June 27, 1824.  She attended Mount Vernon School in Boston, but much of her literary education came through her participation in Margaret Fuller's "Conversations."  Ednah came to know Theodore Parker, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amos Bronson Alcott, Abby May Alcott, and many other authors.

She married artist Seth Cheney and became mother to her daughter Margaret, but Seth died at a young age and Ednah did not remarry.  Instead, she focused on motherhood and her career.

Over the course of her career, Ednah was an author, a lecturer, a philanthropist, a reformer, a suffragist, and a teacher.  Passionate about education, she was involved with the Concord School of Philosophy, Boston School of Design for Women, Women's Medical College, and The Horticultural School for Women.

She participated in numerous organizations, including The Freedman's Aid Society, The Association for the Advancement of Women, The New England Woman's Club,  The New England Woman's Press Association, The Massachusetts School Suffrage Association,The Free Religious Association, and The New England Hospital for Women and Children.

Ednah wrote articles for periodicals such as The North American Review, The Christian Examiner, and Woman's Journal.  She also penned books, including her 1902 autobiography, Reminiscences of Ednah Dow Cheney.  Two years later, on November 19, 1904, she passed away.