Bessie Smith
Acknowledged as one of the greatest blues singers of the twentieth century, Bessie Smith reigned as the “Empress of the Blues” throughout most of the 1920s.
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Mary E Garrett
American philanthropist who donated money to start the Johns Hopkins University Medical School in 1893 on the condition that the school would accept women students “on the same terms as men”.
Elisabeth Marbury
American author’s representative and theatrical manager.
Mary Emma Woolley
American educator
Dorothy Wilde
Dorothy Wilde divided her time between London and Paris, where she was, for a time, the toast of salons, celebrated for her wit, intelligence, and physical likeness to her uncle Oscar, as whom she used to dress up.
Mary Shelley
English author of Frankenstein
Sylvia Beach
In addition to owning and running the “bookshop and lending library, Shakespeare and Company,” Beach spent her time advocating and networking for the writers and friends that were loyal to her shop.
Thelma Wood
While in Paris, Wood’s artistic medium changed from sculpture to silverpoint, in which sketches are drawn with a silver-pointed stylus. Wood’s work consists largely of erotically suggestive flowers and animals. Her sketches have been described as “fluid” and “sensual” by biographers noting, for instance, her representation of frequently fetishized objects like women’s shoes
Gertrude Stein
American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector
Djuna Barnes
She acted and wrote plays for Provincetown Theater in Massachusetts; she also became a highly paid journalist. In 1921, she was sent to Paris by McCall’s Magazine to study and write about the expatriate movement. She became friends with famous writers and artists including Mina Loy. She frequently visited Natalie Barney’s salon, to read and discuss literature. It was the environment at Barney’s salon that inspired Barnes to write Ladies Almanack (American Women).