In 1860, a woman named Sarah Joseph A. Hale was one of the most influential women in America.

Writers and intellectuals courted her, prominent ministers asked for her help.

Abraham Lincoln corresponded with her.

She wrote 50 books in her lifetime and helped found Vassar College and build the Bunker Hill Monument.

She also invented Thanksgiving and wrote Mary had a little lamb. Today, though, practically no one knows who she was.

Sarah Joseph A. Hale is probably most famous for editing Goody's Ladies' book. Between 1837 and 1860,

it was the largest magazine in the U.S., and it was kind of like Vogue

meets Vogue knitting.

It brought Parisian fashion and home needlework patterns to, rough estimate, half a million

women a month.

Sarah had this unique editorial eye, but while her strengths as an editor, cultural commentator, an activist made Goody's wildly

successful, her personal weaknesses would eventually destroy the magazine, and with it, her own place

in history. I'm Alison Koreski, and you're listening to Fiber Nation, tales of textiles, Craft, and Culture.

So before we meet Sarah, I need to tell you just a little more about Goody's Ladies' book.

It ran from roughly 1837 to 1896, and I compared it to Vogue, but it was also the Martha Stewart and the Oprah magazine of its day, all in one issue.

Today, it's known mostly for its fashion plates. These are these hand-tinted drawings of popular dress styles. But it was also sewing in knitting patterns, essays, recipes,

short stories, pretty much anything you can imagine in a magazine. So that's Goody's in a nutshell.

But what about this woman who put her stamp on it?

I wanted to know more about the magazine.

When I found out it was written and published and edited by a woman, I'm just like, holy crap, stop the presses.

I need to know more about this person.

That's Sophia Beaumont, a writer and fashion historian.

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