Let Them Speak for Themselves: Women in the American West:
1849-1900. Edited by Christiane Fischer. Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books,
1977. Bibliography. 346pages. $15.00.
Reviewed by Janet R. Fireman, Associate Curator of Social and
Cultural History, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, who has taught
and published in the fields of women's history and western history.
For the autobiography enthusiast, Christiane Fischer has
gathered together a lovely assortment of selections. Some are well written; some
are not. All are commanding reading for he who best loves history from first
person accounts, whether well articulated or not. These twenty-five pieces, each
written by a woman about her experience in the Far West, combine to yield a
charming batch of mini-narratives.
Besides their charm, the selections chosen for Let Them
Speak for Themselves illustrate better than any commentary can the
occupations, pastimes, and attitudes of the women speaking. Fischer has imposed
organization on these fragments by dividing the readings into seven groupings.
They include material originating from mining regions, agricultural endeavors,
the military, working women, urban life, childhood reminiscences, and travelers'
relations. But as Fischer points out in her introduction, there are many
similarities among all the writers. These, it seems, make a strong argument for
the idea that such organizational divisions are publishing shenanigans for the
most part, and consequently, arbitrary. The organization, then, is perplexing.
So are a couple of other issues concerning the editing of
these selections. In the introduction, which contains some perceptive and
stimulating points on women as eye-witness historians, Fischer explains how she
wrote the prefaces, or introductions to each narrative. She says that in them,
she noted that which has "particularly drawn (her) attention," in order
"simply to share the enthusiasm and the delight (she has) experienced in reading
these highly diversified narratives (21)." Granted the selections are
charming, as stated above, but it would be ever so much more helpful had the
editor actually edited the selections. That is, if she had annotated the
material, or provided explanatory notes, either in the preface or in footnotes,
the reader would benefit immeasurably more than he does already from the charm
inherent. As they stand, the prefaces contain emotional responses, and not very
much historical data to corroborate what the author of the selection has said,
or biographical information, or other material on the author that might enlarge
understanding of the selection itself.
The assortment presented, besides being charming, has still
other virtues to recommend it. As is the case with all such "reading books,"
this one is convenient. In a manageable size, one may carry around that which
appeared originally in twenty-four separate volumes, since all but one selection
have been published. Seven appeared during the last century; only three have
surfaced in the last forty years. This makes the book a particularly handy
companion for a textbook in a western history class. But there are problems here
too. First, the sub-title indicates that the book deals with the West, but
actually, it is only part of the Far West: fifteen selections are based in
California (and gold mining is the principal setting here), seven in Nevada,
four in Arizona, and one in Colorado. So, some westerners could rightfully feel
slighted. One wonders: did no women write diaries or memoirs in the Pacific
Northwest, on the Plains, or along the Rio Grande Valley?
Fischer's bibliography is curious. Following a short listing
of "References" of unknown significance, there is a long list called "Further
Reading; Writings on Women and on Conditions in California, Nevada, and Arizona,
1849-1900." It represents an adequate introduction to the announced subjects,
but the juxtaposition of histories of American feminism, pioneer reminiscences,
scholarly monographs, and multi-volume state histories, causes some question
concerning Fischer's intended use for this list. The list is long enough, and
unwieldy enough so that its use is restricted without added interpretation.
Nevertheless, the selection in the readings list is fine, if
not charming. And the mini-narratives-the letters, diaries, reminiscences,
memoirs, and relations of these twenty-five women of the Far West-these are,
beyond everything else, charming. Their charm makes the book well worth reading,
and under the influence of this charm, the reader gains much understanding of
the society, economy, culture, and industry of the region depicted. Pleasantly,
the reader learns about the life and times of these unwitting charmers.
