Join the Ohio Lesbian Archives December 11 to hear about the life of Mary MacMillan, a Lesbian poet who lived in the Cincinnati area in the early 20th century.
Urban historian Anne Delano Steinert will present her ongoing research on local lesbian poet Mary MacMillan. Born in Ross Ohio in 1870, MacMillan studied at Wells College and Bryn Mawr before returning to Cincinnati around the turn of the century. Here she completed a number of historical essays, published poems in six national magazines, compiled her own book of verse entitled The Little Golden Fountain, worked for women’s right to vote, and held influential roles in several local organizations including the MacDowell Society and the Ohio Valley Poetry Society. As president of the Ohio Valley Poetry Society, MacMillan corresponded with many authors of national acclaim including Edna St. Vincent Millay who ultimately visited MacMillan here at her home on Telford Avenue in Clifton in 1927.
As her poems detail, the love of MacMillan’s life was University of Cincinnati Dean of Women, Loueen Pattee, who died suddenly at age 46 in 1922 after only four years in Cincinnati with MacMillan. Before coming to Cincinnati, Pattee had run a girls’ school in Munich, staying on to work at a Red Cross hospital at the outbreak of World War I. Pattee is listed as MacMillan’s “partner” in the 1920 census taken of their Telford Avenue address. This talk will be a presentation of work in progress followed by a discussion of the research presented and feedback on ways to move forward with the work.
The talk will take place 4pm, December 11 in the upstairs parlor room of Clifton United Methodist Church on the corner of Clifton Ave and Senator Place (3416 Clifton Ave). Parking is available in the lot behind the church on Senator Place. Donations to the Ohio Lesbian Archives greatly appreciated.