Elaine Goodale
Encyclopedia
Elaine Goodale Eastman and Dora Read Goodale (1866 - 1953) were American
poet
s and sisters, who published their first poetry as children still living at home, and were included in Edmund Clarence Stedman
's classic An American Anthology (1900).
Elaine Goodale taught at the Indian Department of Hampton Institute, started a day school on a Dakota reservation and became Superintendent of Indian Education for the Two Dakotas by 1890. She married Dr. Charles Eastman
(also known as Ohiyesa), a Santee Sioux who was the first Native American physician, and lived with him and their growing family in the West for several years. She collaborated with him extensively with writing about his childhood and Sioux culture; his nine books were popular and made him well known on a public lecture circuit. She also continued her own writing, publishing her last book of poetry in 1930, and a biography and last novel in 1935.
Dora Read Goodale published a book of poetry at age 21 and continued to write. She became a teacher of art and English in Connecticut. Later she was a teacher and director of the Uplands Sanatorium
in Pleasant Hill, Tennessee
. She attracted positive reviews when she published her last book of poetry at age 75 in 1941, in which she combined modernist free verse with use of Appalachian dialect to express her neighbors' traditional lives.
. From 1876-1879 he served as a delegate to the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture. His poem "Does Farming Pay?", in the October 1880 issue of Harper's Monthly, was reviewed in the New York Times as a terrific piece of dialect
verse.
The Goodale sisters grew up on their parents' farm, known as Sky Farm. They had a brother Robert, and a sister Rose Sterling Goodale, who married James A. Dayton and preserved much of the family's history and manuscripts. The entire family absorbed the New England Transcendental
culture.
Elaine and Dora were precocious writers, starting poetry while young. Elaine publicized her poems at age eight in her Sky Farm Life, a monthly she published. Her first pastoral poem appeared in the Springfield Republican when she was twelve.
Friends helped collect the two girls' early writings; Elaine was fifteen and Dora twelve when their first book was published:
Beginning in 1881 they contributed to such periodicals as Scribner's Monthly, Harper's and Sunday Magazine. In 1887 verses of both sisters began to appear in St. Nicholas Magazine
, as well. As the biographer Theodore Sargent noted, both young poets were included in Edmund Clarence Stedman's classic An American Anthology, 1787-1900, published in 1900.
, a historically black college in Virginia for the education of freedmen, where she taught a new group of students who were Native Americans
from the West. In 1885 Goodale made a tour of observation through the Sioux
Reservation
, as she wanted to learn more about where her students came from.
Having become interested in the cause of Indian Reform, in 1886 Elaine Goodale received a government appointment to teach Indians at the White River
Camp, where she set up a day school. She strongly supported educating children at day schools on the reservations rather than sending them away to boarding schools. In 1890 Goodale was appointed Superintendent
of Indian Education for the Two Dakotas for the Bureau of Indian Affairs
.
In the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre
in December 1890, she cared for the wounded with Dr. C. A. Eastman
, a Santee Sioux doctor of part Anglo-American ancestry. They fell in love and in 1891 she and Charles were married in New York.
The couple had six children:
The couple remained together for three decades, although they returned to Massachusetts to live in 1903. They had struggled financially after Eastman was forced out of two physician positions with the Indian Health Service
. For a time they both worked at the Carlisle Indian School. After Goodale Eastman started helping Eastman write his stories of childhood and Indian culture, he became well known and sought after for lectures. The family was based in Amherst as Eastman increasingly traveled for public lectures and other activities. Goodale managed his lecture tours and associated publicity, as he had about 25 lectures annually. They also collaborated on writing, and he published eight books while they lived in Amherst; Goodale Eastman published three.
In 1915 the family founded their own summer camp at Granite Lake, New Hampshire, where the adults and three oldest children all worked for several years. Their daughter Irene, a promising opera singer and Charles' favorite, died in the influenza
epidemic
of 1918, leaving both parents devastated and further straining their relationship. In 1921, after allegations that Charles had an affair and an illegitimate child, the couple separated, although they never divorced or acknowledged the separation publicly. Eastman did not publish any books after their separation.
Elaine Goodale Eastman wrote a memoir about her experiences as a Sioux school teacher called Sister to the Sioux. The manuscript, which is property of the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College
, was published posthumously in 1978 by the University of Nebraska Press.
Goodale Eastman continued to write, publishing four books after her separation from Charles: in 1928 it was The Luck of Old Acres, a novel about a summer camp. She published her last book of poems, The Voice at Eve, in 1930; it included a biographical essay entitled "All the Days of My Life." In 1935 she published both her best novel, One Hundred Maples, and a biography of Richard Henry Pratt
, founder of the Carlisle Indian School. She also published numerous articles, letters and book reviews published in a variety of journals.
After her death in 1953, she was buried in Florence, Massachusetts, near where her daughter Dora and her family lived.
Later in life Dora worked as a teacher and director of Uplands Sanatorium in Pleasant Hill, Tennessee
. In 1941 she published Mountain Dooryards, her last book of poetry, a work that was written in modernist free verse and used the dialect of the people of the Appalachians and expressed their traditional but changing world.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
s and sisters, who published their first poetry as children still living at home, and were included in Edmund Clarence Stedman
Edmund Clarence Stedman
Edmund Clarence Stedman , American poet, critic, and essayist was born at Hartford, Connecticut, United States.-Biography:...
's classic An American Anthology (1900).
Elaine Goodale taught at the Indian Department of Hampton Institute, started a day school on a Dakota reservation and became Superintendent of Indian Education for the Two Dakotas by 1890. She married Dr. Charles Eastman
Charles Eastman
Charles Alexander Eastman was a Native American physician, writer, national lecturer, and reformer. He was of Santee Sioux and Anglo-American ancestry...
(also known as Ohiyesa), a Santee Sioux who was the first Native American physician, and lived with him and their growing family in the West for several years. She collaborated with him extensively with writing about his childhood and Sioux culture; his nine books were popular and made him well known on a public lecture circuit. She also continued her own writing, publishing her last book of poetry in 1930, and a biography and last novel in 1935.
Dora Read Goodale published a book of poetry at age 21 and continued to write. She became a teacher of art and English in Connecticut. Later she was a teacher and director of the Uplands Sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
in Pleasant Hill, Tennessee
Pleasant Hill, Tennessee
Pleasant Hill is a town in Cumberland County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 563 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Pleasant Hill is located at ....
. She attracted positive reviews when she published her last book of poetry at age 75 in 1941, in which she combined modernist free verse with use of Appalachian dialect to express her neighbors' traditional lives.
Early life and education
Elaine and Dora were born to Dora Hill Read and Henry Sterling Goodale, a farmer and writer in Mount Washington, MassachusettsMount Washington, Massachusetts
Mount Washington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 130 at the 2000 census, making it the smallest town in Berkshire County and, after Gosnold and Monroe, the third smallest in...
. From 1876-1879 he served as a delegate to the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture. His poem "Does Farming Pay?", in the October 1880 issue of Harper's Monthly, was reviewed in the New York Times as a terrific piece of dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
verse.
The Goodale sisters grew up on their parents' farm, known as Sky Farm. They had a brother Robert, and a sister Rose Sterling Goodale, who married James A. Dayton and preserved much of the family's history and manuscripts. The entire family absorbed the New England Transcendental
Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the 1830s and 1840s in the New England region of the United States as a protest against the general state of culture and society, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian...
culture.
Elaine and Dora were precocious writers, starting poetry while young. Elaine publicized her poems at age eight in her Sky Farm Life, a monthly she published. Her first pastoral poem appeared in the Springfield Republican when she was twelve.
Friends helped collect the two girls' early writings; Elaine was fifteen and Dora twelve when their first book was published:
- Apple Blossoms: Verses of Two Children (1878)
- In Berkshire with the Wildflowers (1879)
- All Round the Year: Verses from Sky Farm (1880)
Beginning in 1881 they contributed to such periodicals as Scribner's Monthly, Harper's and Sunday Magazine. In 1887 verses of both sisters began to appear in St. Nicholas Magazine
St. Nicholas Magazine
St. Nicholas Magazine was a popular children's magazine, founded by Scribner's in 1873. The first editor was Mary Mapes Dodge, who continued her association with the magazine until her death in 1905. Dodge published work by the country's best writers, including Louisa May Alcott, Francis Hodgson...
, as well. As the biographer Theodore Sargent noted, both young poets were included in Edmund Clarence Stedman's classic An American Anthology, 1787-1900, published in 1900.
Elaine Goodale Eastman
In 1881 Elaine published The Journal of a Farmer's Daughter. Two years later she became teacher at the Hampton InstituteHampton University
Hampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen.-History:...
, a historically black college in Virginia for the education of freedmen, where she taught a new group of students who were Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
from the West. In 1885 Goodale made a tour of observation through the Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
Reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
, as she wanted to learn more about where her students came from.
Having become interested in the cause of Indian Reform, in 1886 Elaine Goodale received a government appointment to teach Indians at the White River
White River (South Dakota)
The White River is a Missouri River tributary that flows through the U.S. states of Nebraska and South Dakota. The name stems from the water's white-gray color, a function of eroded sand, clay, and volcanic ash carried by the river...
Camp, where she set up a day school. She strongly supported educating children at day schools on the reservations rather than sending them away to boarding schools. In 1890 Goodale was appointed Superintendent
Superintendent (education)
In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....
of Indian Education for the Two Dakotas for the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
.
In the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre
Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre happened on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M...
in December 1890, she cared for the wounded with Dr. C. A. Eastman
Charles Eastman
Charles Alexander Eastman was a Native American physician, writer, national lecturer, and reformer. He was of Santee Sioux and Anglo-American ancestry...
, a Santee Sioux doctor of part Anglo-American ancestry. They fell in love and in 1891 she and Charles were married in New York.
The couple had six children:
- Dora Winona Eastman, d. August 22, 1964, Northampton MA
- Irene Eastman, d. October 23, 1918, Keene NH
- Virginia Eastman, d. April 2, 1991, Amherst MA (She married a Mr. Whitbeck)
- Eleanor Eastman, d. May 2, 1999, Pittsford NY (She married a Mr. Mensel)
- Florence Eastman, d. December 30, 1930, Holyoke MA (She married a Mr. Prentiss)
- Charles Eastman Jr. (Ohiyesa), d. January 15, 1940, Detroit MI
The couple remained together for three decades, although they returned to Massachusetts to live in 1903. They had struggled financially after Eastman was forced out of two physician positions with the Indian Health Service
Indian Health Service
Indian Health Service is an Operating Division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . IHS is responsible for providing medical and public health services to members of federally recognized Tribes and Alaska Natives...
. For a time they both worked at the Carlisle Indian School. After Goodale Eastman started helping Eastman write his stories of childhood and Indian culture, he became well known and sought after for lectures. The family was based in Amherst as Eastman increasingly traveled for public lectures and other activities. Goodale managed his lecture tours and associated publicity, as he had about 25 lectures annually. They also collaborated on writing, and he published eight books while they lived in Amherst; Goodale Eastman published three.
In 1915 the family founded their own summer camp at Granite Lake, New Hampshire, where the adults and three oldest children all worked for several years. Their daughter Irene, a promising opera singer and Charles' favorite, died in the influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
of 1918, leaving both parents devastated and further straining their relationship. In 1921, after allegations that Charles had an affair and an illegitimate child, the couple separated, although they never divorced or acknowledged the separation publicly. Eastman did not publish any books after their separation.
Elaine Goodale Eastman wrote a memoir about her experiences as a Sioux school teacher called Sister to the Sioux. The manuscript, which is property of the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, was published posthumously in 1978 by the University of Nebraska Press.
Goodale Eastman continued to write, publishing four books after her separation from Charles: in 1928 it was The Luck of Old Acres, a novel about a summer camp. She published her last book of poems, The Voice at Eve, in 1930; it included a biographical essay entitled "All the Days of My Life." In 1935 she published both her best novel, One Hundred Maples, and a biography of Richard Henry Pratt
Richard Henry Pratt
Richard Henry Pratt is best known as the founder and longtime superintendent of the influential Carlisle Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.-Military career:...
, founder of the Carlisle Indian School. She also published numerous articles, letters and book reviews published in a variety of journals.
Legacy
- In 1950 Goodale Eastman donated her papers to Smith CollegeSmith CollegeSmith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, where she had earned her undergraduate degree. (She had removed most of the references to Charles Eastman.)
After her death in 1953, she was buried in Florence, Massachusetts, near where her daughter Dora and her family lived.
Dora Read Goodale
After graduating from Smith College, Dora published her first independent book of poetry in 1887, Heralds of Easter. She became a teacher of art and English in Reading, Connecticut, which her mother's family had settled. She never married, but she and her sister Elaine exchanged numerous letters over the decades in which they examined the various alternatives for women.Later in life Dora worked as a teacher and director of Uplands Sanatorium in Pleasant Hill, Tennessee
Pleasant Hill, Tennessee
Pleasant Hill is a town in Cumberland County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 563 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Pleasant Hill is located at ....
. In 1941 she published Mountain Dooryards, her last book of poetry, a work that was written in modernist free verse and used the dialect of the people of the Appalachians and expressed their traditional but changing world.
Works
- Test of the Sky, 1926 (poetry)
- Mountain Dooryards, 1941; 1945, revised and enlarged
Further reading
- Carol Lea Clark. Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa) and Elaine Goodale Eastman: A Cross-Cultural Collaboration, University of Tulsa, 1994.