Catharine Esther Beecher (6 September 1800-12 May 1878), author and educator, used the printed word as a weapon to advance her principles. A doer and writer, she effectively elevated the status of women, although the scope of her feminism was narrow by today's standards. Born in East Hampton, New York, the eldest child of Lyman and Roxana (Foote) Beecher, she moved with her family to Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1810. Her mother died when Catharine was sixteen, and her father's remarriage increased the already large household. Deeply attached to her father, a dynamic Congregational minister, Catharine assumed much of the responsibility for the family management. After a brief period studying at Sarah Pierce's school in Litchfield, she taught in New London, Connecticut. Her engagement to marry a Yale mathematics professor, Alexander Metcalf Fisher, ended in tragedy when he died at sea. As a result, the plain, heavy-featured, sallow-complexioned Catharine renounced worldly pursuits...