Braxton Craven was an American educator. He served as the second president of the institution that became Duke University from 1842 to 1863 and then again from 1866 to 1882. The institution was known as Union Institute from 1841 to 1851, Normal College until 1859, and Trinity College until 1924. He taught ancient languages, ethics, philosophy, law, rhetoric, and logic at Duke.
Janet Scudder, born Netta Deweze Frazee Scudder, was an American sculptor and painter from Terre Haute, Indiana, who is best known for her memorial sculptures, bas-relief portraiture, and portrait medallions, as well as her garden sculptures and fountains. Her first major commission was the design for the seal of the New York Bar Association around 1896. Scudder's Frog Fountain (1901) led to the series of sculptures and fountains for which she is best known. Later commissions included a Congressional Gold Medal honoring Domício da Gama and a commemorative medal for Indiana's centennial in 1916. Scudder also displayed her work at numerous national and international exhibitions in the United States and in Europe from the late 1890s to the late 1930s. Scudder's autobiography, Modeling My Life, was published in 1925.
Rosa Campbell Praed, often credited as Mrs. Campbell Praed, was an Australian novelist in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Her large bibliography covered multiple genres, and books for children as well as adults. She has been described as the first Australian novelist to achieve a significant international reputation.
Zerelda Gray Sanders Wallace was the First Lady of Indiana from 1837 to 1840, and a temperance activist, women's suffrage leader, and inspirational speaker in the 1870s and 1880s. She was a charter member of Central Christian Church, the first Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her husband was David Wallace, the sixth governor of Indiana; Lew Wallace, one of her stepsons, became an American Civil War general and author.
Henrietta Matilda Jane Evans was an Australian novelist, who wrote under the pseudonym Maud Jean Franc.
Catherine Edith Macauley Martin was an Australian novelist who used the pseudonyms M.C. and Mrs Alick MacLeod, also published anonymously.
Alice Mona Alison Caird was an English novelist and essayist known for feminist writings, which were controversial when they were published. She also advocated for animal rights and civil liberties, and contributed to advancing the interests of the New Woman in the public sphere.
Jeptha Dudley New was a U.S. Representative from Indiana. He was the grandson of Jethro New, nephew of Robert A. New, brother of John C. New, and uncle of Harry Stewart New.
The Alexandrian Public Library serves the residents of Mount Vernon, Indiana as well as Black, Lynn, Marrs, Point and Robinson townships. Founded by Matilda Greathouse Alexander, the library has been in existence since 1895.
Mary Hartwell Catherwood was an American writer of popular historical romances, short stories, and poetry. Early in her career she published under her birth name, Mary Hartwell, and under the pseudonym Lewtrah. She was known for setting her works in the Midwest, for a strong interest in American dialects, and for bringing a high standard of historical accuracy to the period detail of her novels.
Adeline Sergeant was a prolific English writer.
Matilda Anne Mackarness was an English novelist of the 19th century, primarily writing children's literature.
Mary Elizabeth Sherwood was an American author and socialite. She wrote short stories, poetry, several books, and etiquette manuals, in addition to contributing to many magazines and translating poems from European languages. Among her writings are The Sarcasm of Destiny, A Transplanted Rose, Manners and Social Usages, Sweet Briar, and Roxobel. Better known as Mrs. John Sherwood, some of her literary works were published as "M.E.W.S." or "M.E.W. Sherwood".
Marietta Bones was an American woman suffragist, social reformer, and philanthropist. In 1881 Bones was elected vice-president of the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and annually re-elected for nine years. In 1890 suffragist Susan B. Anthony and supporters of the movement merged the National Women Suffrage Association into the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA). In 1882, Bones made her first appearance as a public speaker in Webster, soon to be Webster, South Dakota, where she later resided. She was an active temperance worker, and was secretary of the first Non-Partisan National Woman's Christian Temperance Union in 1889. She took great interest in all reform and charitable institutions.
Emma Ghent Curtis was an American novelist, poet, newspaper publisher, Populist, and suffragist. Curtis published two Western novels in the late 1880s. The second of these, The Administratrix, is the first cowboy novel outside of the dime novel tradition, preceding Owen Wister's The Virginian by more than a decade. Curtis was instrumental in making women's suffrage part of the Populist platform.
Matilda Charlotte Houstoun was a British travel writer, novelist, biographer, and women's right activist. She is best known for her series of travel writings, particularly Texas and the Gulf of Mexico (1844) and Hesperos, and their observations about African-American life during the times of the Confederate Deep South. Later on, she turned her pen from novels to social reform, particularly on the rights of working class women and single mothers. During her lifetime, her best known work was Recommended to Mercy, a female-driven "yellow-back" novel published in 1862.
Elizabeth Miller was an American novelist who wrote "best-sellers" during the same era as fellow Hoosiers Lew Wallace, Maurice Thompson, Booth Tarkington, Charles Major, Meredith Nicholson, and George Barr McCutcheon. Her first three novels, a trilogy, set forth the rise, triumph and decline of Judaism, and placed Miller near the top among the list of writers of modern classics of her day, her strength lying in her ability to produce “atmosphere” and in a certain acute sense of values in reproducing scenes of the Orient.
Flora Bridges was an American college professor. She taught Greek and English at Mount Holyoke College, and was Dean of Women at Yankton College and Olivet College.
Margret Holmes Bates was an American author better known by her pen names, Mrs M E Holmes, Margret Holmes, Margret Holmes Bates, and Margaret Holmes Bates. Her first publication was entitled, Manitou, the plot of which centered around Rochester, Indiana and Indianapolis, Indiana. One of her most noted books, Hildegarde, was a poetry collection, dedicated to her son, Charles.
Grace Alexander (1872–1951) was an American author, journalist, and teacher. She wrote in several genres including plays, novels, and textbooks. Her work as society editor of Indianapolis News included music and drama criticism, as well as a weekly women's section. With her sister, Georgia Alexander, Grace owned and operated a women's boarding house in Indianapolis, Indiana.
