Author Stephanie Schorow at the State Library of Massachusetts author talk
Author Stephanie Schorow offers insight into women’s lives in 1891 by compiling journal entries into a book.
By Hannah Woods
The State of Massachusetts Library Author Talks Series is back from summer break, with Author Stephanie Schorow.
“A Boston Harbor Islands Adventure: The Greater Brewster Journal of 1891” by Schorrow, details journal entries by four Lowell Women who ventured to a remote island in the Boston Harbor.
“I think islands and remote islands have a hold on our imagination,” said Schorow.
The entries provide insight on the women’s lives in 1891. The goal of Schorow’s book is to add context to every entry. This includes material on the history of the Boston Harbor Islands, other women’s lives and what was happening in Lowell. While adding context to the book the material left by the journal was likely created off the island, even though the entries are from the island.
Women’s writing has relevance to women today, as told in Schorow’s book. Schorow emphasizes how the journal is more of a documentary, chronicling everything they did and ate. When asked about the social class of the women, Schorow explained the debate among her team. “We had a big discussion on what class meant,” Schorow said. “They were definitely not at the class with the [Lowell] mill girls.” Some of the entries exhibit evidence of an education and time for leisure. These women were able to go on trips and attend women’s clubs.
“I would just add that this was probably one of the most exciting books for me to work on in the sense that it was about women’s issues,” Schorow added, connecting to the book’s relevance today.
Emily Marvosh, a singing actress, is in the process of making multimedia interpretations of the journal. She is also the one who found the journal. “There are people who, for whom reading a book is not their preferred way of learning, and I wanted to sort of turn this into a multimedia presentation,” Marvosh said.
In regards to broadcasting the book for audiences Marvosh says the program wants this to be widely available at no cost. “Because the journal is old enough to be in the public domain, we’re able to share these images more widely without copyrights.”
The program hopes to eventually partner with National Parks, by the Boston Harbor Islands, Boston Harbor now and so on.
All proceeds from the book go to the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands, who also funded the project.
The multimedia rendition of the book is coming in Aug. 2025.