People
Name: Field, Kate
Born/Started: Oct. 01, 1838
Died/Ended: May. 10, 1896
Description: Kate Field was one of the earliest women journalists, born in St. Louis in 1838. Her parents were well-known thespians, who played at the St. Louis Theatre at Third and Olive. Joseph Field, her father, built the Varieties Theatre, and founded the St. Louis Reveille newspaper, which failed after the great fire of 1849. Ms. Field was translating Racine and playing Chopin by the age of 11. When her father died, she and her mother moved to Boston to live with her wealthy uncle; he disinherited her when she began to send abolitionist articles to the Boston Courier. Moving to Florence, Italy, she was included in the literary circle that included the Brownings, the Trollopes and George Eliot. She made her living writing books and articles about her experiences and lecturing. She also did some acting, and founded a newspaper, Kate Field´s Washington, for which she wrote most of the articles herself. The paper ended in 1776 when she became ill. She took a rest cure in Hawaii, subsidized in part through newpaper columns. While tracking down a story she contracted pneumonia and died a few days later.[Cuoco/Gass]
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