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The papers of Martha R. Field are at the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women at Tulane University.  They were generously donated by Catherine  ("Toni") Field Bacon, Martha Field's great-granddaughter, and contain published materials by Field, and published and unpublished writings of Field's daughter, Flo Field.

Unfortunately, none of Martha Field's correspondence has survived, even though she was a voluminous letter writer.  The only copy of her handwriting in the Newcomb collection is the signature on her photograph on the home page of this website.

We are convinced that some of the letters she sent to her many admirers may still exist, perhaps among old collections of correspondence in someone's attic.  If any visitor to this website has a Catharine Cole or Martha Field letter, or knows of  anyone who owns one, we would be delighted to hear from you.

We also welcome any comments on the website, or suggestions about how it can be improved.  

Contact us at:

                        laugh@clemson.edu

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The digital library at the University of Pennsylvania has posted a piece by Martha R. Field, filed from the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and published in the New Orleans Picayune.  It was reprinted in Mary Kavanaugh Oldham, ed., The Congress of Women:  Held in the Woman's Building, Wold's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, U.S.A., 1893 (Monarch Book Company, 1894).  The article was a reprint of a talk given by Field at the Congress of Women titled, "Come South, Young Women," urging women to find a future in the South, particularly Louisiana.  Field had been in Chicago for months, sending daily columns on the World's Fair back to New Orleans.  She had established a reputation as one of the most talented and prolific writers covering the World's Fair.

"Come South, young woman," she wrote, " and you will never leave it.  You will take root in its rich soil and flower there, perfuming all the air with your sweetness.  There you can be freely what you will--an ant in the morning, a bee at noon and a butterfly at night."

You can find this article, with a photograph of Martha Field at:

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/eagle/congress/fieldmr.html