Rebecca Harding Davis, born Rebecca Blaine Harding in Washington, Pennsylvania, was the oldest of five children. When Rebecca was five years old, the Harding family moved to Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), then a burgeoning industrial center straddling the North and South. At fourteen, she returned to Washington, Pennsylvania, enrolling in a girls’ school....
Troubling Ideals: Rebecca Harding Davis and the Consequences of Industrialization in Life in the Iron Mills