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Sarah Josepha Hale, painted and engraved expressly for Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1850.
Credit: Courtesy of The Library Company of Philadelphia
After moving from Boston to Philadelphia to serve as editor of Godey's Lady's Book, Sarah Josepha Hale reigned for decades as the nation’s most important woman editor and as one of the most influential arbiters of American women’s fashion, taste, and values. Hale served as editor of Godey’s from 1837 to 1877. She also wrote nearly fifty volumes of novels and poetry, including "Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Hale died at her home at 1413 Locust Street in Philadelphia, on April 30, 1879.