Sara Catterall
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scatterall.bsky.social
Sara Catterall
@scatterall.bsky.social
Writer. MLIS. So many interests. She/her. Author of Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon, out now from Belt Publishing. She truly did not want to be remembered for "bloomers." Blog etc at saracatterall.com
Pinned
Good morning! I wrote a biography of someone who helped found the women's rights movement in the 1850s, and kept at it through the Civil War, scandals, chronic illness, and decades of defeats.
Amelia Bloomer
A fascinating look at an underappreciated woman in American history whose newspaper fostered a national conversation on women’s issues.Those who recognize the name Amelia Bloomer usually do so because...
www.arcadiapublishing.com
Sister and nephew drive from Chicago. Animation student flew from Baltimore. Food prep all afternoon. Bird marinating in salted peppered yogurt, dressing done, one side done. Teaching Gen Z to make pâte sucrée. Possible Blues Brothers after beans and tortillas.
November 26, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
Haven't received as many contributions as usual for this year's lists--could be many things, but one aspect is surely that our ability to get this in front of people is much diminished. If you know folks whose stuff should be on here, please suggest it! contingentmagazine.org/yearly-pub-l...
Publications by Non-Tenure-Track Historians
Since we began publishing in 2019, Contingent has published end-of-year lists of books and articles by non-tenure-track historians released in the past calendar year. To submit something for inclusion...
contingentmagazine.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
New #ebook at Project Gutenberg: Fatal fingers by William Le Queux https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77320
November 24, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
sorry, link was in my previous post and I'm on a tear lol www.thebookseller.com/comment/dont...
Don’t invest in AI, invest in the future of the book
Why the publishing industry must back small presses, rather than LLMs.
www.thebookseller.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
Our books are inherently non-commercial, art objects. I talk about this a lot in bookshop circles but, people don't hesitate to support dance, visual art, and other modes of artistic expression that are totally nonprofit but culturally valued. Why do people not apply that to books and literature?
November 24, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I am reading The Well of Loneliness for research context, and did not expect something quite so long and flowery. Settling into it though, after the first 100 pages.
November 24, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
Just a friendly reminder as we go into the holidays:

Folks don't have to explain to you why they don't drink.

If you offer them a drink and they decline, don't ask them why. It's not your business.

Just offer them something without alcohol to drink instead. And move on.
November 23, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
I wrote a quick post in response to that @cnn.com article about Elphaba's trousers in the second act of Wicked.

Which misrepresents Bloomer again. (journalists, please, I'm the Bloomer expert!)

But also, we think we're so blasé about women wearing pants over here in the USA and Europe, yet..
Elphaba’s Pants
My sister just shared this CNN article with me: A witch in trousers? Weird It discusses the costume design for Cynthia Erivo’s character Elphaba in Wicked: For Good, which she and I and my ph…
saracatterall.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:27 PM
I wrote a quick post in response to that @cnn.com article about Elphaba's trousers in the second act of Wicked.

Which misrepresents Bloomer again. (journalists, please, I'm the Bloomer expert!)

But also, we think we're so blasé about women wearing pants over here in the USA and Europe, yet..
Elphaba’s Pants
My sister just shared this CNN article with me: A witch in trousers? Weird It discusses the costume design for Cynthia Erivo’s character Elphaba in Wicked: For Good, which she and I and my ph…
saracatterall.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
Gift guide, you said?
November 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
Not able to attend one of my book talks? I just gave a webinar on Amelia Bloomer for the State Historical Society of Iowa, and it's now online! @beltpublishing.bsky.social
Iowa History 101: Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, and Anti-Fashion Icon
YouTube video by Iowa History
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
Winning The Earthquake, my bio of America’s first woman in Congress and Progresssive trailblazer Jeannette Rankin is now available as an audiobook!

#womeninpolitics #americanhistory #progressivepolitics #mustreads #biography
Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress|Audiobook
The first major biography of Jeannette Rankin, a groundbreaking suffragist, activist, and the first American woman to hold federal office.“Few members of Congress have ever stood more alone while bein...
www.barnesandnoble.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
#OnThisDay, 14 Nov 1917, US suffragists held at the Occoquan Workhouse are assaulted by the guards, at the order of the supervisor. The “Night of Terror” galvanises support for the women.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #VotesForWomen #AmericanHistory 🗃️
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November 14, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Not able to attend one of my book talks? I just gave a webinar on Amelia Bloomer for the State Historical Society of Iowa, and it's now online! @beltpublishing.bsky.social
Iowa History 101: Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, and Anti-Fashion Icon
YouTube video by Iowa History
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 9:16 PM
This Thursday!
November 11, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Never ages, alas
So much dusty chatter about "single women these days" reminds me of Susan B. Anthony on "The Homes of Single Women," circa 1877. We're still in the "transitional epoch" she imagined. saracatterall.substack.com/p/the-homes-...
The Homes of Single Women
Susan Anthony's two cents
saracatterall.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:29 PM
🧵
#OnThisDay, 10 Nov 1917, 41 suffragists are arrested outside the White House in Washington DC.

This was the largest number of women arrested on the same day.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #VotesForWomen #AmericanHistory 🗃️
1/4
November 10, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
Yup. Common hydropathy treatments from the 1800s.
November 9, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Sara Catterall
They didn’t know what vitamins were. They didn’t have ibuprofen or antibiotics. People died from paper cuts that got infected.

They spent a wild amount of money trying not to die.
November 9, 2025 at 8:58 PM
This. It's a significant theme in my biography of Amelia Bloomer. She got into the "short dress and trousers" (ie, bloomers) by way of alternative health circles, including water cures, after getting her health destroyed by mercury treatments.
I would not wish 1800s healthcare on my worst enemy.
November 9, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Whatever your thoughts on the hypocrisy vs. scamminess debate re that woman calling churches for formula, would you like to throw a few bucks at my UU church's free baby gear org? Free new car seats to whoever asks, no strings, is the center of it. Can't keep up with demand.
Babies First - First Unitarian Society of Ithaca
What is Babies First:Babies First is an all volunteer organization, that is part of the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca. Now in its 3rd decade, Babies First provides tangible help to babies, young c...
unitarian.ithaca.ny.us
November 9, 2025 at 4:12 PM
If you don't see much of what's going on with professional animators vs AI lately, this 🧵 and all the comments are a great window into it all.
The studio that made the shitty coca-cola AI ad getting their teeth kicked in on socials bc of how icky bad it is, then the studio CEO coming out insulting and dismissing folks kicking their teeth in, and THEN releasing the worst ever cover up “hey we actually made this by hand” scam vid

🧍‍♀️
November 9, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Out here building community with UU newcomer brunch. Much coffee, and a vegan option.
November 8, 2025 at 2:49 PM
I'm holding a free webinar for the State Historical Society of Iowa on Amelia Bloomer, who moved out to the Wild West of Council Bluffs in 1854. Register here!
Iowa History 101: Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, and Anti-Fashion Icon
Join Sara Catterall, author of the new biography Amelia Bloomer: Journalist, Suffragist, and Anti-Fashion Icon, to learn about Bloomer's life and work in Iowa.
history.iowa.gov
November 7, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Amelia Bloomer turns up in the oddest places.
Bloomers - Cyclism (Relative Pitch, 2025)
Free Jazz Collective, reviews of avant garde and free jazz music and media
www.freejazzblog.org
November 7, 2025 at 4:20 PM