No Ladies in the Lady's Book
In August 1869, Godey’s Lady’s Book, the most popular ladies' magazine of the day published an article claiming "no women" had helped build the Transcontinental Railroad. Yet at that same time, women held at least 95 registered patents for inventions and innovations directly related to the railroad. No Ladies in the Lady’s Book opens with Louis Godey preparing his article for publication. He is soon visited by many of the women he is writing out of the record book. The ladies quickly set him straight. These women include Susan Morningstar, Catharine Gibbon, Jane Swisshelm, Eliza Murfey, Mary Elizabeth Walton, Mary Jane Montgomery, Mary Jane Colter, Sarah Bagley, Elizabeth Cogley, and Miriam Leslie. A one-act opera, in English, approximately 19 minutes in duration. Libretto by Rachel J. Peters.