What Was A Boston Marriage?

A Boston marriage was a term used in New England during the late 19th–early 20th century to describe the cohabitation of two wealthy women, independent of financial support from a man. These relationships were often romantic and might now be considered lesbian. The term originated in Henry James’ novel The Bostonians, which described a situation where two women lived together in a committed relationship. Boston marriages typically occurred between college-educated and financially independent women, eliminating the need for male support.

The concept of Boston marriage erases the idea that these women were lesbians who kept their sex lives private. A dual biography of Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie Adams Fields is needed to deepen historical understanding of same-sex eroticism between women in the nineteenth-century United States and the nature of Boston marriage. A Boston marriage is a template for a different type of relationship for straight women other than heterosexual marriage.

A Boston marriage refers to a long-term loving relationship between two women, living together as a couple and forged a new path with the help of wealth and privilege. The term Boston marriage is not derived from the Massachusetts legalization of same-sex marriages in 2004 or from the Massachusetts legalization of same-sex marriages in 2004.

What is the meaning of Boston marriage?

The term “Boston Marriage” refers to a non-traditional, domestic relationship between two middle or upper-class women. These committed female relationships occurred primarily in New England, where higher numbers of college-educated women were financially secure enough to choose whether or not to enter a conventional, heterosexual marriage with a man. According to Rouse, biographers and scholars have documented such queer partnerships among suffragists such as Frances Willard and Anna Adams Gordon, Carrie Chapman Catt and Mary Garrett Hay, Jane Addams and Mary Rozet Smith, and Alice Stone Blackwell and Kitty Blackwell, among others. Unfortunately, the queer private lives of suffragists have been left out of the story commonly told about the womens suffrage movement in the United States.

During their own lifetimes, suffragists who defied gender and sexual norms found themselves shut out of the mainstream womens voting rights movement. Critics of womens suffrage accused these progressive women of being “mannish,” and argued that granting women the right to vote would disrupt the “natural order” and the home. These opponents presented women campaigning for the right to vote as a wives or mothers abandoning their domestic duties. They blamed these public women for increased rates of juvenile delinquency, divorce, and sexual immorality. Suffrage leaders responded by embracing a traditional image of womanhood and shutting out activists who defied these norms. Rouse documents how the leaders of the National American Womens Suffrage Association (NAWSA) distanced themselves from suffragist Dr. Mary Walker, who cut her hair short and wore traditionally masculine clothing such as pants and suit jackets. Boston native Margaret Foley, nicknamed the “heckler-in-chief,” too, found herself at odds with suffrage leadership. Foley was employed in a hat factory and served as treasurer of Hat Trimmers Union before working for several suffrage organizations. Her loud demeanor, public tactics, and unwavering support for the working class caused tension with the upper and middle class womens voting organizations in Massachusetts. Nevertheless, Foley traveled the country campaigning for womens suffrage, forming a lifelong relationship with Helen Elizabeth Goodnow, a wealthy Boston suffragist. Foley lived with Goodnow until her death in 1957.

One example of such a partnership in the 1920 Boston womens voter registers was that of Sarah H. Stites and Helen H. Hodge. The two women registered to vote together on October 4, 1920, and were recorded by clerks as both residing at 11 Queensberry Street. Their home, located in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston, was just a short walk from Simmons College (now Simmons University), where Stites had worked as an economics professor for a number of years.

When were Boston marriages a thing?

Though Longfellow wrote one of Americas first documented lesbian relationships, a more enduring one was written by another man in Longfellows circle, Henry James. In 1886, James published the novel The Bostonians. Despite never using the term directly in the text, the novel popularized an enduring term in LGBTQ history: “Boston Marriage.” Boston Marriages were a newer concept in the second half of the 19th century, owing its meaning to the women involved in them. Women in these marriages were often from New England, college-educated, financially independent, and with careers of their own.

By the late 19th century, some women began to gain more opportunities outside the home. This new era of freedom meant opened up the possibility that women could spend the rest of their lives with one another, without the need for a traditional marriage. Many of these women formed intense, life-long committed relationships with one another as a result.5 However, class constraints meant that most women in this time were still expected to marry and have children no matter what their sexuality was.

Longfellow Family Photograph Collection (3007.001/002.002-#16)

What does Boston mean?

Noun. a seaport in and the capital of Massachusetts, in the E part. (lowercase) a variety of whist, popular in the early 19th century, played by four persons with two packs of cards. (usually lowercase) a social dance that is a modification of the waltz.

A seaport in and the capital of Massachusetts, in the E part.

(lowercase) a variety of whist, popular in the early 19th century, played by four persons with two packs of cards.

(usually lowercase) a social dance that is a modification of the waltz.

What age did Victorian girls marry?

2. They didnt marry young.. At the end of the 18th century, the average age of first marriage was 28 years old for men and 26 years old for women. During the 19th century, the average age fell for English women, but it didnt drop any lower than 22. Patterns varied depending on social and economic class, of course, with working-class women tending to marry slightly older than their aristocratic counterparts. But the prevailing modern idea that all English ladies wed before leaving their teenage years is well off the mark.

3. They didnt marry their cousins.. Marrying your first cousin was perfectly acceptable in the early 1800s, and the practice certainly offered some benefits: Wealth and property were more likely to remain in the same hands, and it was easier for young women to meet and be courted by bachelors within the family circle. Later in the 19th century, though, marriage between cousins became less common. Increased mobility due to the growth of the railroad and other widespread economic improvements vastly broadened a young ladys scope of prospective husbands.

Meanwhile, the Victorian era saw a rise in awareness of birth defects associated with reproduction among relatives. Cousin marriages remained popular among the upper class, however. Charles Darwin married his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood, for instance, and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were themselves first cousins.

What is the Boston marriage in the Bostonians?

The fact of relatively formalized romantic friendships or life partnerships between women predates the term Boston marriage and there is a long record of it in England and other European countries.2 The term Boston marriage became associated with Henry Jamess The Bostonians, a novel involving a long-term co-habiting relationship between two unmarried women, new women, although James himself never used the term. James sister Alice lived in such a relationship with Katherine Loring and was among his sources for the novel.3.

Some examples of women in Boston marriages were well known. In the late 1700s, for example, Anglo-Irish upper-class women Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby were identified as a couple and nicknamed the Ladies of Llangollen. Elizabeth Mavor suggests that the institution of romantic friendships between women reached a zenith in 18th-century England.2 In the U.S., a prominent example is that of novelist Sarah Orne Jewett and her companion Annie Adams Fields, widow of the editor of The Atlantic Monthly, during the late 1800s.4.

Lillian Faderman provided one of the most comprehensive studies of Boston marriages in Surpassing the Love of Men.5 20th-century film reviewers used the term to describe the Jewett-Fields relationship depicted in the 1998 documentary film Out of the Past.6 David Mamets play Boston Marriage premiered in 2000 and helped popularize the term.

What is a lavender relationship?

A lavender relationship, also sometimes referred to as a bearded couple, is when two people agree to date or marry under the false pretense that they are heterosexual. In reality, most bearded couples are one or two queer partners, from anywhere on the LGBTQ spectrum. The intent of this relationship is entirely to appear straight to the outside world, and often the parties have no romantic ties. As Mint Lounge explains, some people enter into these agreements knowingly, while for others this may be a long lasting secret.

In the Irish coming of age film, Dating Amber, high schoolers Amber and Eddie agree to “date” to end the constant verbal abuse of their classmates in regards to their sexualities (IMDB). The teens explore what it means to be queer in 1995, and the film follows the pair as they grow into their own shells. They eventually part ways, both stronger than when the relationship began. This film is a heartbreaking but poignant example of a bearded couple trying to escape social ridicule all while denying their sense of selves.

While there were many cases of these marriages and relationships in the past, lavender couples still exist today, all over the world.

What was marriage in the 1800s?

In nineteenth-century America, the law insisted that marriage was a permanent relationship defined by the husbands authority and the wifes dependence. Yet at the same time the law created the means to escape that relationship. How was this possible? And how did wives and husbands experience marriage within that legal regime? These are the complexities that Hendrik Hartog plumbs in a study of the powers of law and its limits.

Exploring a century and a half of marriage through stories of struggle and conflict mined from case records, Hartog shatters the myth of a golden age of stable marriage. He describes the myriad ways the law shaped and defined marital relations and spousal identities, and how individuals manipulated and reshaped the rules of the American states to fit their needs. We witness a compelling cast of characters: wives who attempted to leave abusive husbands, women who manipulated their marital status for personal advantage, accidental and intentional bigamists, men who killed their wives lovers, couples who insisted on divorce in a legal culture that denied them that right.

As we watch and listen to these men and women, enmeshed in law and escaping from marriages, we catch reflected images both of ourselves and our parents, of our desires and our anxieties about marriage. Hartog shows how our own conflicts and confusions about marital roles and identities are rooted in the history of marriage and the legal struggles that defined and transformed it.

What is Boston best known for?

The lively capital of Massachusetts is one of the longest-established cities in the U.S., dating back to its foundation by Puritan settlers in 1630. Boston is known for its starring role in the American Revolution in the late 1700s, but it is equally renowned as a sophisticated center of contemporary culture, higher education, and technology.

Aside from its rich history, Bostons sporting traditions run deep. As well as being home to the famous Red Sox team, the city supports the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, and New England Patriots. Beer and sport tend to go hand in hand, and microbreweries and brewpubs are hugely popular in this city.

Here are a few of the things that make Boston such a fantastic destination to visit.

Boston can boast many firsts in the U.S., among them the first public park, Boston Common, and the first public school, the Boston Latin School. Both these venerable institutions, which date back to 1634 and 1635 respectively, are well-used today, and form part of the famous Freedom Trail, a two-and-a-half mile red-brick road that runs through the center of the city between Boston Common and the Bunker Hill Monument.

Why did they call it Boston?

The name Bostonedit. Before Johnson died on September 30, 1630, he named their then-new settlement across the river Boston. (This was one of his last official acts as the leader of the Charlestown community.) The settlements name came from Johnsons hometown of Boston, Lincolnshire, from which he, his wife (namesake of the Arbella) and John Cotton (grandfather of Cotton Mather) had emigrated to New England. The name of the English town ultimately derives from its patron saint, St. Botolph, in whose church John Cotton served as the rector until his emigration with Johnson. In early sources, Lincolnshires Boston was known as St. Botolphs town, later contracted to Boston. Before this renaming, the settlement on the peninsula had been known as Shawmut by Blaxton and Tremontaine by the Puritan settlers he had invited.4041424344.

Puritan occupationedit. Puritan influence on Boston began even before the settlement was founded with the 1629 Cambridge Agreement. This document created the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was signed by its first governor John Winthrop. Puritan ethics and their focus on education also influenced the early history of the city. Americas first public school, Boston Latin School, was founded in Boston in 1635.2045.

Boston was the largest town in the Thirteen Colonies until Philadelphia outgrew it in the mid-18th century.46 Bostons oceanfront location made it a lively port, and the then-town primarily engaged in shipping and fishing during its colonial days. Boston was a primary stop on a Caribbean trade route and imported large amounts of molasses, which led to the creation of Boston baked beans.47.

What is the origin of the phrase Boston marriage?

The phrase Boston Marriage dates back to Henry James novel Bostonians in 1886. James writes a tale of two women that meet during a feminist gathering and one persuades the other to move from her parents home to be her roommate and gain more independence. They are just friends that moved in together, simple as that.

Why is it called a Boston?

Renamed Bostonedit. One of Johnsons last official acts as the leader of the Charlestown community before dying on September 30, 1630, was to name the new settlement across the river Boston. He named the settlement after his hometown in Lincolnshire, from which he, his wife (namesake of the Arbella) and John Cotton (grandfather of Cotton Mather) had emigrated to New England. The name of the English city ultimately derives from that towns patron saint, St. Botolph, in whose church John Cotton served as the rector until his emigration with Johnson. In early sources the Lincolnshire Boston was known as St. Botolphs town, later contracted to Boston. Prior to this renaming the settlement on the peninsula had been known as Shawmut by Blaxton and Trimountaine by the Puritan settlers he had invited.1011121314.

Settlement on Shawmut Peninsulaedit. The Puritans settled around the advertised springs on the north side of what is now Beacon Hill (at the time called Trimountaine from its three peaks). Blaxton negotiated a grant of 50 acres (20ha) for himself in the final paperwork with Johnson, amounting to around 10% of the peninsulas total area. However, by 1633 the new towns 4,000 citizens made retention of such a large parcel untenable and Blaxton sold all but six acres back to the Puritans in 1634 for £30 ($5,455 in adjusted USD). Governor Winthrop, Johnsons successor as leader of the settlement, purchased the land through a one-time tax on Boston residents of 6 shillings (around $50 adjusted) per head. This land became a town commons open to public grazing. It now forms the bulk of Boston Common, the largest public park in present-day downtown Boston.11151617.

After Johnsons death the Episcopalian Blaxton did not get along with the Puritan leaders of the Boston church, which rapidly became radically fundamentalist in its outlook as it began executing religious dissidents such as Quakers. In 1635 Blaxton moved about 35 miles (56km) south of Boston to what the Indians then called the Pawtucket River and is today known as the Blackstone River in Cumberland, Rhode Island. He was that regions first European settler, arriving one year before Roger Williams established Providence Plantations.18.

How old were girls when they got married in the 1800s?

According to U.S. Census data for 2009, the average age of first marriage for men is 28.4 and 26.5 for women. I was married in 2009, when I was 22 and my husband was 24. As a married 22-year old woman, I felt out of place since most people my age were still single. My husband and I were both four years ahead of the 21st-century average. But, if we were living in 18th-century America, we would have been typical.

In 18th-century America, the typical age of marriage for middle-to-upper class white women was 22 and 26 for men. Women began courting as early as 15 or 16, but most delayed marriage until their early twenties. The years of courtship were a time when 18th-century women could enjoy some freedom and power. They had the right to refuse any suitors and were not bogged down with running a household. Thus, it is easy to see why women began courting at such a young age but did not usually marry until several years later.

The actual wedding day for white 18th-century Americans looked quite similar to the weddings we attend today, although it should be noted that most weddings did not take place in a church as it could be difficult to travel to one, especially for those living in rural areas. The custom of the father giving away his daughter, the exchanging of rings, and having a reception were all practiced in 18th-century America. Typically, the reception was held at the brides house where toasts were made and games and dancing entertained the guests. So, some of the wedding rituals and traditions we partake in today were already in existence in the years prior to 1800.