Rebecca Harding Davis | |
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| Born | Rebecca Blaine Harding June 24, 1831 Washington, Pennsylvania |
| Died | September 29, 1910 (aged 79) Mount Kisco, New York |
| Genre | Fiction, journalism, poetry |
| Notable works | Life in the Iron Mills |
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Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis (June 24, 1831 – September 29, 1910) was an American author and journalist. She was a pioneer of literary realism in American literature. She graduated valedictorian from Washington Female Seminary in Pennsylvania. Her most important literary work is the short story "Life in the Iron-Mills," published in the April 1861 edition of The Atlantic Monthly. Throughout her lifetime, Davis sought to effect social change for African Americans, women, Native Americans, immigrants, and the working class, by intentionally writing about the plight of these marginalized groups in the 19th century.