Apr 5, 2013 3 min read

Washington & Jefferson College will remember Washington native and 19th-century journalist and literary pioneer Rebecca Harding Davis at a community celebration Friday and April 13 in the Dieter-Porter Life Sciences Building and Swanson Science Center, in the shadows of where Davis’ alma mater – the Washington Female Seminary – once stood.

The symposium will include events at the LeMoyne House and the David Bradford House, where Davis was born.

“Life in the Iron Mills” is widely considered Davis’ most significant work, but she is credited with more than 500 published works. “Life in the Iron Mills,” published in the April 1861 edition of the Atlantic Monthly, was one of the first works to explore industrialization in American literature; the story launched Davis to fame.

The symposium will feature a variety of activities, including addresses by prominent speakers, historical tours, an original performance of the one-act play, “Rebecca and James,” and historical exhibits about Davis and the Washington Female Seminary. Author Harriet Branton and editor Emsie Parker will launch their new book, Washington County Chronicles: Historical Tales from Southwest Pennsylvania, which features a chapter on Davis.

“The highlight of the symposium will be the dedication of a new state historical marker near the intersection of Strawberry Alley and Lincoln Street,” said Jennifer Harding, associate professor of English at W&J and an organizer of the event, in cooperation with the Washington County Historical Society, David Bradford House, and Citizens Library. “The marker will make the legacy of Rebecca Harding Davis and the Washington Female Seminary visible and permanent in our collective memory.”

The marker will be dedicated by the commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Historical and Museum Commission, Washington Mayor Brenda Davis, W&J President Tori Haring-Smith, and Davis’ great-grandniece, Rachel Loden.

The festivities begin at 4:30 p.m. April 12 when Loden, a distinguished San Francisco-based poet, reads from her collections “Dick of the Dead” and “Hotel Imperium” in the U. Grant Miller Library.

The symposium continues April 13 with the opening address, “Rebecca Harding Davis: Uncommon Woman, Uncommon Tales,” by Jean Pfaelzer, professor of American studies, Asian studies, English and women’s studies at the University of Delaware. Robin Cadwallader, associate professor of English at Saint Francis University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches American literature and theory, and co-founder and president of the Society for the Study of Rebecca Harding Davis and Her Worl, will talk from 10:35 to 11 a.m., to be followed by the historical marker dedication at 11:10 a.m. The dedication ceremony will be followed by lunch and performance of the original one-act play “Rebecca and James.”

Participants my select from a variety of activities after lunch, including walking tours and displays in the David Bradford House, the LeMoyne House, and the Swanson Science Center.

The day will end with a closing address at 3:15 p.m.by Robert S. Levine, general editor of The Norton Anthology of American Literature and professor of English and distinguished scholar-teacher at the University of Maryland.

For more information, visit http://www.washjeff.edu/event/2013/04/13/rebecca-harding-davis-symposium. Cost is $20 if registering before Wednesday and $25 on the day of the event; $15 for senior citizens and students by Wednesday and $20 on the day of symposium.