Elizabeth Fries Ellet was an active nineteenth-century American writer, poet, and historian. Born Elizabeth Fries Lummis in New York, she began her literary career at a young age, publishing her debut collection, Poems, Translated and Original, in 1835. Following her marriage to chemist William Henry Ellet, she relocated to South Carolina, where she continued to write books and contribute to various contemporary journals before returning to the vibrant New York literary scene in 1845.\n\nEllet is best remembered for her landmark historical work, The Women of the American Revolution, published in 1845. This comprehensive three-volume study was pioneering in its focus, making Ellet the first historian to systematically document the lives and patriotic contributions of women during the struggle for American independence. Her research preserved the histories of many women whose efforts might otherwise have been forgotten.\n\nBeyond her historical scholarship, Ellet was a prominent and sometimes controversial figure in New York literary circles. She became embroiled in highly publicized social scandals of the era, most notably involving fellow writers Edgar Allan Poe and Frances Sargent Osgood, and later, the editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold. Despite these controversies, she remained a dedicated and prolific writer, continuing to publish diverse works until her death in 1877.
