Eliza Farnham Quotes

Eliza Farnham was born in Rensselaerville, New York. She was an American novelist, feminist, lecturer and prison reformer. In 1844, through the influence of Horace Greeley and other reformers, she was appointed matron of the women's ward at Sing Sing Prison. She strongly believed in the use of phrenology to treat prisoners. She was influential in changing the types of reading materials available to women prisoners. The purpose of her choices was not entertainment but improving behavior. Farnham's writing includes the posthumously published novel, The Ideal Attained. A brief biographical account is John Hallwas, "Introduction" to Farnham's Life in Prairie Land. Her book My Early Days is a record of her childhood, a portrait of relentless suffering among ignorant, brutal people.