The fall meeting of the D.C.-Area reading group (which, given our growing geographical range, will change its name to the Mid-Atlantic Study Group after this meeting) will focus on the circulation of women’s poetry in late eighteenth century British America and the early United States.

We’ll discuss the various ways that women’s poetry circulated, ranging from book publication to broadsides to manuscripts and commonplace books.  Common readings for our discussion will include Phillis Wheatley’s 1773 Poems as well as a group of her broadsides and the hybrid print-manuscript poems of Virginia writer Margaret Lowther Page.  

Karen Weyler, Associate Professor of American Literature, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Lauren Wallis, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Library Science, will be our discussion leaders. 

In the morning, we will tour the Swem Library Special Collections Research Center at William and Mary and view a rare first edition of Wheatley's Poems, as well as the only extant copy of Page's book of poetry.  Special Collections librarians will also make available a selection of women's manuscripts from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and will meet individually with interested scholars.  A group lunch, generously provided by the William and Mary Women's Studies Program, will precede the afternoon discussion.  We will conclude with an informal group dinner at a local restaurant.

To book accommodations, please see the information below.  

PRIMARY READINGS

Please consult any edition of Phillis Wheatley’s collected works, such as the widely available 2001 Penguin Classics edition, Phillis Wheatley, Complete Writings. 

We will look closely at the following poems:

“An Elegiac Poem, on the Death of that Celebrated Divine...George Whitefield.”

“To Mrs. Leonard, on the Death of Her Husband” (retitled in Poems “To a Lady on the Death of her Husband”)

“To the Hon’ble Thomas Hubbard, Esq.: On the Death of Mrs. Thankfull Leonard” (retitled in Poems “To the Honourable T. H. Esq; on the Death of His Daughter”

Journals and Poems of Margaret Lowther Page. Download available from the W&M Digital Archive here.

SECONDARY READINGS

Joanna Brooks, “Our Phillis, Ourselves.” American Literature 82.1 (March 2010): 1 - 28.

Mary Kelley, "The Need of Their Genius: Women's Reading and Writing Practices in Early America.” Journal of the Early Republic 28.1 (Spring 2008): 1 - 22.

Thomas R. Adams and Nicolas Barker. “A New Model for the Study of the Book.” The Book History Reader. 2nd ed. Edited by David Finkelstein and Alistair McCleery. London and New York: Routledge, 2006. 47-65.  Click here for the PDF.

Lauren M. Wallis. “To Form a New World, New Systems Create”: Margaret Lowther Page’s Poetic Revisions of Women’s Roles in the Early Republic. MA thesis. THe University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2010. Click here for the PDF.

SCHEDULE FOR NOVEMBER 13th

Early morning: optional self-guided tour of African-American schoolhouse building that was the subject of a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education and another in The Washington Post. Terry L. Meyers, Chancellor Professor of English, College of William and Mary, has prepared an overview of the history of the building that you can download here. 

10:15: Meet in the lobby of the Hospitality House and walk to the Swem Library.

10:30 – Tour of Swem Library Special Collections Research Center

12:00 – Lunch, courtesy of William and Mary Women’s Studies Program, in Blow Memorial Hall, Room 201.

1:00-4:00 – Discussion after lunch in Blow Memorial Hall, Room 201.

4:00: Business meeting

5:00/5:30 – Dinner at a local restaurant

RSVPs

Jennifer Putzi, Associate Professor of English and Women’s Studies at the College of William and Mary, will be taking RSVPs for this event. Please send any questions you have and RSVPs (by October 23rd)  to Jenny at jlputz@wm.edu.  In your RSVP, please specify (1) whether you will be present for lunch, (2) whether you require a vegetarian or gluten-free meal, and (3) whether you will join the group for dinner. 

ACCOMMODATIONS

Williamsburg Hospitality House

415 Richmond Road

Williamsburg, VA 23185

(757)-229-4020

A block of rooms have been reserved at the Williamsburg Hospitality House, located across the street from the William and Mary campus, through October 14th at the $85 discounted rate. The discounted rate may be available after October 14th but is dependent upon room availability. In order to get this rate, please tell the reservation desk that you are with the “Women Writers Study Group.”

For directions to the Williamsburg Hospitality House, click here.

PARKING

The Williamsburg Hospitality House has free underground parking for guests. The hotel is within walking distance of the college.

If you are staying elsewhere, you will find parking near campus along Richmond Road or in one of the two parking lots on the campus of William and Mary: the lot on Stadium Drive next to Zable Stadium or the lot on Dawson Circle, near Blow Memorial Hall.

A map of the campus is available here.

OTHER ACCOMMODATIONS

Fairfield Inn and Suites, 1402 Richmond Road, Williamsburg, 757-645-3600
Holiday Inn Express Hotel, 1452 Richmond Road, Williamsburg, 757-941-1057.