"For the soul is a wanderer with many hands and feet."
Digital archives as gathering places & solitary retreats; Native American literature & design; holiday shopping & year-end lists with Cita
In the final months of the year, we gather to mark beginnings, endings, legends, etc. During this period, curling up with a book for a moment of solitude can balance out all that socializing and festivity (for those of us who need it!) and give us time to reflect. This month’s bulletin highlights a handful of collaborative projects—long-term digital gatherings, you could call them—that people can join and/or retreat into as readers. Each project is dedicated to preserving and amplifying the work of a feminist author from the past, with decidedly modern models for participation. Happy exploring!
Winnifred Eaton Archive: Winnifred Eaton Babcock Reeve (1875-1954) was the younger sister of Cita’s latest author, Edith Maude Eaton/Sui Sin Far. Where Edith proudly acknowledged the family’s Chinese heritage during a time of rampant anti-Chinese racism, Winnifred adopted a fake Japanese identity and published under the invented name “Onoto Watanna” to great commercial success. Beyond this controversial period in her career, Winnifred’s legacy is vast and complex. The Winnifred Eaton Archive collects screenplays, books, manuscripts and more, building to a full survey of the early Asian American writer.
The Genius of Phillis Wheatley Peters: This project celebrates the 250th anniversary of the publication of the first published book of poetry by an African American poet, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley Peters (1753-1784). Subtitled “A Poet and Her Legacies,” the collaboration brings together a range of resources and virtual happenings that trace the influence of Wheatley Peters’ remarkable life and work from her lifetime to the present.
The Diaries of Michael Field: A community of scholars, readers, and students are working together to digitize the shared diary of Katharine Bradley (1846-1914) and Edith Cooper (1862-1913). Bradley and Cooper were prolific co-writers of prose and poetry; though they wrote under a shared male pseudonym they were visible members of the British literary scene. Their diary, Works and Days, chronicles their personal and literary partnership from 1888 until the eve of World War I.
Digital Cavendish: A trove of materials related to Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673)— images, maps, teaching resources, audio, and more—lives in this space. Cavendish wrote what some consider the first work of utopian science fiction, among many other texts exploring philosophy, science, and her own life. People can participate via the Crowdsourcing Cavendish initiative and an in-progress open access critical edition of Cavendish’s Complete Works (in partnership with radically creative OA publisher punctum books).
Rebecca Harding Davis Archive: Bringing together more than 200 works by Rebecca Harding Davis (1831-1910) alongside contextual resources, the RHDA aims to preserve and expand Davis’ legacy. Famous for “Life in the Iron-Mills,” Davis’ work explored women’s rights, Indigenous rights, Black rights, mental health awareness, labor movements, and disability activism. The Archive encourages collaboration from anyone who wishes to contribute by transcribing a text or writing a brief contextual essay.
“I have a hope that this body of women who have the habit of broad and accurate thought will not always be content to expend their force in society, or even in charitable work. They will be stirred by the ambition to leave something more permanent behind them… and will paint as they only can do, for the next generation, the inner life and history of their time with a power which shall make that time alive for future ages.”
— “Women in Literature,” Rebecca Harding Davis (1891)
Cita Canon Spotlight
As we close out Native American Heritage month in the US, here are just a few women whose contributions to literature and design should be widely celebrated (every month).
Angel DeCora (1871-1919; also known as Hinook-Mahiwi-Kalinaka and Angel de Cora) was a Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) artist and illustrator, educator, and designer. She created book covers, illustrations (including for Old Indian Legends by her friend Zitkála-Šá), and lettering that drew from a range of Indigenous artistic traditions. As an educator, she set the following condition for accepting a position: "I shall not be expected to teach in the white man's way, but shall be given complete liberty to develop the art of my own race and to apply this, as far as possible, to various forms of art, industries and crafts." Her deeply creative, informed approach to typography and illustration continues to influence Native designers today. [Neebinnaukzhik Southall on Angel DeCora’s artistry and influence for Letterform Archive.]
Zitkála-Šá (1876-1938; also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin) was a writer, musician, educator, and activist who was a member of the Yankton Sioux (Dakota) Nation. She wrote autobiographical essays, stories based on traditional legends from a range of tribes, and political texts. She also authored the libretto for the first American Indian opera, The Sun Dance Opera (1913). Her work focused on the preservation of American Indian traditions and history, as well as citizenship and voting rights for women and Indigenous people. [National Women’s History Museum.]
Joy Harjo (b. 1951) is a poet, playwright, and author who became the 23rd United States Poet Laureate —and the first Native American person named to the role—in 2019. She is an enrolled citizen of the Muscogee Nation. “I came into poetry feeling as though, on some level, these words were not just mine but my grandparents’, their parents’. And I was helping others speak, especially Native women.” [“Beyond Language,” an interview with Harjo by Lakota poet Layli Long Soldier for Poetry.]
In the last days of the fourth world I wished to make a map for
those who would climb through the hole in the sky.
My only tools were the desires of humans as they emerged
from the killing fields, from the bedrooms and the kitchens.
For the soul is a wanderer with many hands and feet.
What Else?
Looking for holiday gifts for the book lover(s) in your life? Visit the Cita shop for hats, shirts, and art prints celebrating feminist literature and design. Order by December 13 for holiday arrival.
You can also gift someone a print copy of our latest title, An Immortal Book: Selected Writings by Sui Sin Far!
It’s year-end favorites time! Each December, the Cita team compiles a list of recent-ish books by women we read and loved during the year. If you’d like to contribute, send us the book title/author and one sentence about why you recommend it to Cita readers to info@citapress.org. We’ll include the recommendations in next month’s Bulletin.
