Welcome

The Catharine Maria Sedgwick Society promotes the study and awareness of Sedgwick’s life and works. We aim to increase availability and access to her writings and offer a forum for established and emerging scholars, as well as others interested in Sedgwick, to exchange ideas, research, and pedagogical strategies.

Catharine Maria Sedgwick Society at ALA 2023

Thursday, 5/25/23 

Session 1-I Mental Illness and Mental Health in the Nineteenth Century (Courier) – 8:30 am

Organized by the Catharine Maria Sedgwick Society Chair: Jenifer Elmore, Palm Beach Atlantic University

1. “Diseased, Corrupted, or Out of Balance? The Economy of Mental Illness in Sedgwick’s Writings,” Jenifer Elmore, Palm Beach Atlantic University
2. “‘I would rather lie down…and have my life trodden out’: Maternal Breakdowns and Mental Bonds in Catharine Sedgwick’s Married or Single?,” Jordan Von Cannon, Florida Gulf Coast University

3. “Monomania and Other Inspirations: Hearing Voices in Emma Hardinge Britten’s The Wildfire Club,” Ashley Reed, Virginia Tech

Session 3-B Mining a Digital Archive: New Revelations from Catharine Sedgwick’s Letters (St. George A)
Organized by the Catharine Maria Sedgwick Society – 11:30 am
Chair: Ashley Reed, Virginia Tech

  1. Patricia Kalayjian, California State University, Domingez Hills

  2. Lucinda Damon-Bach, Salem State University

  3. Catherine Tunney, Salem State University

  4. Juniper Johnson, Northeastern University

 

Catharine Maria Sedgwick Society –

Elections and Proposed Bylaws Amendment

It’s an election year for the CMS Society, and we encourage everyone to get involved.

 

CMSS Election Year

We will be holding elections this November for all Executive Board member positions, and we strongly encourage self-nominations. Participation on the Sedgwick Society board is not only personally rewarding, but also an excellent way to expand your service to the profession at the national level and to develop contacts and build relationships with other scholars and educators in the field. Please visit this page for more information.

Proposed Bylaws Amendment

At the business meeting during the 2022 CMSS Symposium, members discussed raising our society membership fees in order to keep pace with the rising costs of future conferences. Please visit this page for more information.

Membership Updates

If you’re not sure whether your CMS Society membership is up to date, then please see this linked spreadsheet, which lists our 2022-2023 members. Remember that you can renew or join anytime at the Sedgwick Society membership page.

Updates

AVAILABLE — a new scholarly edition of Redwood, A Tale ed. by Jenifer B. Elmore visit our News and Notes page for more details.

Congratulations to CMSS members Patricia Kalayjian, Deborah Gussman, and Lucinda Damon-Bach, who have received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to pursue the Catharine Maria Sedgwick Online Letters Project!

Read more on our News and Notes page. “Sedgwick in Print” a new space on the site for information on all the current editions of Sedgwick’s major novels

Secondary Bibliography — we’re looking to update our scholarly bibliography on Sedgwick and her writings, if you’ve authored a recent article, chapter, book, etc. that includes Sedgwick, please let us know.

Ongoing initiatives See our News and Notes for CFPs and the “Just Read One – Sedgwick Story Challenge”.