Emily Edson Briggs
Emily Pomona Edson Briggs (1830-1910) was an American journalist and one of the first women to acquire a national reputation in the field. When her husband John R Briggs, whom she had married around 1854, was appointed as assistant clerk of the US House of Representatives in 1861, Emily discovered a talent for observing and commenting on the political scene. Her letter to the Washington Chronicle defending the employment of women in government caught the attention of the paper's owner and she was hired to write a daily column. She published her pieces under the pseudonym Olivia, contributing to the Chronicle and its sister paper the Philadelphia Press for over 20 years. Her comments on public affairs were always incisive and whilst paying some attention to society and fashion, her column was quite unusual for a female journalist of the day. During the Lincoln administration she became the first woman to report directly from the White House, becoming personally close to the Lincoln family, and later she was among the first to be admitted to the congressional press gallery. She was elected first president of the Women's National Press Association upon its organization in 1882 and in later years became a noted Washington hostess. This collection of her columns was first published in 1906.
