Florence Lathrop Page

Book excerpt: The story of Florence Lanthrop Page provides an opportunity for exporing larger historical questions of class, gender, and social milieu. It contributes to our knowledge of the influence of women in a social order which celebrated the achievements of men. Although she was self-effacing and "a paradigm of good manners" (virtues much admired by her second husband, Thomas Nelson Page), premature womanhood and economic emancipation brought out the decisive, capable, and independent aspects of her personality.