Margaret Bayard Smith

undated

Margaret Bayard Smith (1778-1844) was a very progressive American author, who became the editor of the first national newspaper, The National Intelligencer. She was one of the few female writers of the nineteenth century to break the mold and achieve successes that were almost exclusively attained by men. She wrote A Winter in Washington in 1824, and What is Gentility? in 1845. A collection of her letters and notebooks from 1800 to 1841 were published in 1906 as The First Forty Years of Washington Society.

oil paint on canvas

30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)

Gift of the Artist

PA.076