She wrote  "Among Lowell Mill-Girls; A Reminiscence" (Atlantic Monthly, 11/1881) and several other narratives, including some fiction that was clearly autobiographical, describing her life as a "Mill Girl". She befriended John Greenleaf Whittier and became a significant author of the day with a listing in Griswald's Female Poets of America. She also did the editing on three of Whittier's poetry anthologies, taught college classes at Wheaton, and wrote many articles and poems.

Read more about Lucy Larcom here.

Here's the mystery: are there any other Lucy Larcom spoons? Do any depict her portrait or refer to her writings? Are there any other "Mill-Girl" spoons depicting other individuals who were in that class or somehow illustrating their lives?

Are there other 19th century women immortalized on spoons who gained some prominence in their time but are largely forgotten today?

Drop me a note if you have any such spoons. It would be interesting to develop a library of "Mill-Girls" spoons and similar aspects of our culture that are fading from memory. I can include any relevant material, including pictures, here.

This engraved bowl is reminiscent of some of the buildings at Chautauqua but I have not been able to find any references to it in the literature. Does anyone know where "The Academia" is? Does it relate somehow to Chautauqua, perhaps a local imitation? What was the building used for? Does it still exist?

Send any information that you have and I will include it here.