Ernestine Rose

For the New York librarian, see Ernestine Rose (librarian).
Ernestine Rose
Born
Ernestine Louise Polowsky

(1810-01-13)January 13, 1810
Piotrków Trybunalski, Duchy of Warsaw (now Poland)
DiedAugust 4, 1892(1892-08-04) (aged 82)
Brighton, England
Resting placeHighgate Cemetery, London, England
Nationality
  • Polish (by birth)
  • American (naturalized)
Other namesErnestine Louise Polowsky
OccupationManufacturer of perfumed paper
Known for
SpouseWilliam Ella Rose

Ernestine Louise Rose (January 13, 1810 – August 4, 1892)[1] was a suffragist, abolitionist, and freethinker who has been called the “first Jewish feminist.”[2] Her career spanned from the 1830s to the 1870s, making her a contemporary to the more famous suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.[3] Largely forgotten in contemporary discussions of the American women's rights movement, she was one of its major intellectual forces in nineteenth-century America.[4] The quote, "women's rights are human rights," was believed to be first coined by her.[5] Her relationship with Judaism is a debated motivation for her advocacy.[6] As a rabbi's daughter, Ernestine had received more education than other women her age. Although less well remembered than her fellow suffragists and abolitionists, in 1996, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, and in 1998 the Ernestine Rose Society was founded to “revive the legacy of this important early nineteenth century reformer by recognizing her pioneering role in the first wave of feminism.”[7]

  1. ^ Suhl, Yuri (1970-01-01). Eloquent Crusader: Ernestine Rose. J. Messner. p. 1. ISBN 9780671322113.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Lazarus, Joyce B. (2022). Ernestine L. Rose: To Change a Nation. Lanham, Maryland: Hamilton Books. ISBN 9780761873426.
  4. ^ Anderson, Bonnie S. (2017). The Rabbi's Atheist Daughter: Ernestine Rose, International Feminist Pioneer. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756247.001.0001. ISBN 9780199756247.
  5. ^ Davin, Anna (2002). "Honouring Ernestine Rose, London, 1 and 4 August 2002". History Workshop Journal. 54 (54): 276–277. doi:10.1093/hwj/54.1.276. ISSN 1363-3554. JSTOR 4289820.
  6. ^ Berkowitz, Sandra J.; Lewis, Amy C. (September 1998). "Debating anti-Semitism: Ernestine Rose vs. Horace Seaver in the Boston Investigator, 1863–1864". Communication Quarterly. 46 (4): 457–471. doi:10.1080/01463379809370115.
  7. ^ "Rose, Ernestine Louise Potowski". National Women’s Hall of Fame.