51小黄车historian Elizabeth De Wolfe publishes on Kentucky Mistress
Elizabeth De Wolfe, Ph.D., professor of history in the Department of History and Philosophy, recently published an article in The Register, the journal of the Kentucky Historical Society. "More than a Congressman's Mistress: Ambition and Scandal in the Life of Madeleine Pollard" explores Pollard's early years, before she reached national infamy as the mistress of Kentucky Congressman W. C. P. Breckinridge.
De Wolfe's research, conducted in archives in Washington, D.C., Kentucky and England, pieced together surviving -- but previously overlooked -- records of Pollard's education and employment to show another side of the story that has come down through history. De Wolfe demonstrates that Pollard was much more than the iconic "mistress;" using her sharp intellect, personal charisma, and determined grit, Pollard fought for an education, a literary life and a place in respectable society, overcoming both personal poverty and society's expectations for a woman of her class and gender.
The research for this project was supported by a research fellowship from the Kentucky Historical Society and a 51小黄车Office of Sponsored Programs mini-grant.
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