Sada Bailey Fowler
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Sada Bailey Fowler | |
|---|---|
| Period | 19th century |
| Subject | Free love, criticism of marriage |
| Literary movement | Feminism |
| Years active | 1886–1900 |
| Notable works | Irene, Or, The Road to Freedom |
Sada Bailey Fowler (fl. 1886–1900) was an American feminist writer.
Fowler was a Quaker and a spiritualist,[1] from Philadelphia.[2]
In 1886, Fowler published her feminist novel Irene, Or, The Road to Freedom, which argued for free love and the abolition of marriage.[3] The novel caused a sensation and was widely discussed and debated, including in some of the biggest literary reviews in the United States.[4] Parents in the freethinking movement even encouraged their children to read her book, in order to develop their views on egalitarian relationships.[2]
Later that year, when the free love practitioner Lillian Harman was put on trial for violating marriage laws, Fowler publicly defended her, comparing Harman to an abolitionist.[5] She described her as "one of the inspired women of our time" and upheld her declaration of free love as "one of the noblest declarations that a true woman can make".[6] Fowler contributed copies of her novel Irene for resale, in order to fund Harman's defense campaign.[7]
She also began writing for Harman's publication, Lucifer, the Light-Bearer, in which she elaborated her views on free love.[8] She described Harman's father and editor-in-chief of Lucifer, Moses Harman, as the "William Lloyd Garrison of the age".[9] She engaged in an exchange with other feminist contributors to the paper, in which they discussed what form an ideal marital union should take.[10] In Lucifer, Fowler wrote that she had heard fewer complaints about sexual slavery from Quaker women than from women of any other religious denomination.[11] She was helped in her writing by the anarchist-feminist Voltairine de Cleyre, who in 1900, she provided with lodging at her farmhouse in Torresdale.[1]
Selected works
- Books
- Irene, Or, The Road to Freedom (1886)
- Articles
- "An Open Letter to Lillian Harman" (Lucifer the Light Bearer, October 8, 1886)
- "'Happy New Year' to Noble Lucifer" (Lucifer the Light Bearer, December 17, 1886)
- "Sister Bailey to Sister Lake" Lucifer the Light Bearer, February 11, 1887)
- "Letter to the Editor" (Lucifer the Light Bearer, March 7, 1890)
- "Various Voices" (Lucifer the Light Bearer, November 20, 1896)
