The Journals of Martha E. McMillan

. Martha McMillan and Victorian Periodicals and Poetry (1868) Adam J. Wagner 2015 In her essay “Literary Women,” Caroline Kirkland questions what qualifies a woman as literary: “But we have hitherto neglected to inquire what it is that entitles a woman to the appellation of literary […] Must she have written a book? […] If not a book, will a poem be sufficient? Or an essay? Or a magazine article? […] Or does writing letters make one literary? […] How is it with keeping a journal? Does that come within the canon? Might it not be maliciously interpreted into writing a book in disguise?” (Kirkland 196-197) So does writing a journal make one literary? The journals of Martha E. McMillan support Kirkland’s inquiry. A lifelong native of Cedarville, Ohio, McMillan kept a written record of every day of her life, starting on her wedding day in 1867 until two weeks before she died in 1913. Recently recovered by scholars at Cedarville University, Martha’s journals are a treasure trove of information for literary scholars and historians of the nineteenth century. In the 1868 journal, Martha quotes many female poets of the day, including Fanny R., Susan Archer Weiss, and Elizabeth Akers Allen. An analysis of Victorian periodicals and sentimental poetry help prove the thesis that McMillan is a literary woman. Influenced by the empowering, domestic ideas spread through nineteenth-century periodicals, Martha McMillan’s journals demonstrate she is a literary woman by her intentional ownership of poetry and Christian home ideals. Nineteenth-century periodicals were a literary avenue where women were able to explore domesticity and subjectivity. Beginning in the 1830s and continuing until the 1890s, the growing American marketplace and emerging literary sphere increased periodical publication. As early as 47