Mercy Otis Warren is remembered as the “Muse of the Revolution,” but simply being remembered at all is a testament to her intellect, writing skills, and tenacity.
Mercy was born on September 14, 1728, in Barnstable, Massachusetts. She was the third of seven living children of James Otis, Sr and Mary Allyne Otis. She was descended from Mayflower settlers, and as the oldest daughter in her generation, Mercy’s role in the family was pretty clear: she was going to be relied on to help her mother at home with babies and toddlers. That would, by tradition, simply prepare her for a life as a wife and mother. Period.
Mercy’s older brothers were sent for tutoring, but Mercy was so curious that, with her father’s permission (sigh) and her uncle the tutor’s encouragement (yay) she joined her brothers for lessons. When her older Bestie Sib, James, went off to Harvard, he would bring home his books and he shared his lessons with Mercy. All of this gave her an astonishing education for a woman of the time.
Mercy’s autodidactic education and intellectual curiosity never ceased. She married a man who encouraged and admired both qualities — James Warren (there were four Jameses in Mercy’s immediate family, so that was fun to keep straight.) All of this was during a time in American history when colonists were starting to feel unheard by the British crown that ruled and taxed and taxed…and taxed them. Soon, “Taxation without representation is tyranny” became a common cry among the colonists and their reason for rebellion and, ultimately, revolution.
Both Mercy’s brother, father, and husband were active in the politics of this uprising, and their home was a hub for Patriot leaders to meet and discuss options and actions. Mercy kept up on everything that was going on and soon put her pen to paper to write a satirical play that explained the situation to readers. Published anonymously, only a small group of friends (including John and Abigail Adams) knew that a woman wrote this and subsequent plays and poems.
Through her widely read plays, Mercy illustrated to Colonists the need to turn to revolution to gain their freedom from British oppression. During the Revolutionary War, she wrote even more pieces while raising five boys, often on her own, as her husband, James, was working in the Continental Army. Mercy maintained written correspondence and shared insight with many of the American Revolution’s most well-known leaders as those men turned from battle to the serious business of forming a new government.
Obviously, we get into so much detail in the episode! Mercy’s life is one long argument for the idea that political courage isn’t just found on battlefields or in legislatures; it’s found in writing, in conversations, in friendships, and in the willingness to speak plainly (and loudly) when power grows dangerous. She believed deeply that liberty required constant vigilance, and that ordinary people, especially women, have a role to play in creating ( and maintaining) the nation’s conscience.
It wasn’t until she was 62 in 1790 that Mercy’s name was finally attached to her published material: a book containing 18 new poems and two new plays about the newly formed country. And again she was credited when, in 1805, another book– thirty years in the making– was published: History of the rise, progress and termination of the American Revolution interspersed with biographical, political, and moral observations, by Mrs Mercy Warren of Plymouth.
Mercy Otis Warren survived her husband, beloved brother James, and three of her sons until her own death at 86 on October 19, 1814.
In the following years, Mercy’s name was overshadowed by those of the Founding Fathers, but she is, by any definition, a Founding Mother whose name and contributions need to be remembered.
Mercy Otis Warren bronze statue at Barnstable County Courthouse, Massachusetts.
Registration is now open for our Paris Field Trip, April 24- May 2, 2027! Visit Like Minds Travel for more information and to register!Come With Us To Paris!
Time Travel With The History Chicks
Books!
by Nancy Rubin Stuartby Rosemarie Zagarriby Cokie RobertsSelected letters edited by Jeffrey H. Richards and Sharon M. Harrisby Nancy Robinson MastersBy Carol BerkinBy Dorothy Mays
For kids:
by Gretchen Woelfle and Alexandra Walliner
(Note from Susan: Surely I didn’t dream of the children’s book based on the poem Mercy wrote after the Boston Tea Party…but I am still searching for it. I am not giving up! )
Web!
You can read Mercy’s work and insights into it online on Project Gutenberg, and this article on her play, The Defeat.
There is a quick write-up on her at the Old North Church (you should go there, it’s in Boston and part of the Freedom Trail!)
Speaking of Abigail and Mercy: Brittany Ellis at the University of Mississippi wrote a thesis on Mercy’s use of nicknames, including Portia (Abigail) and Marcia (Mercy.)
Moving Pictures!
There are none! However, we are more than happy to offer up some Mercy intel if there are any scriptwriters out there itching for a conversation about it! Hit us up!
There is a Ken Burns documentary on the American Revolution, and Mercy is voiced by Meryl Streep. Of course it is. It’s an amazing documentary and will give you a very clear understanding of the Revolution: pre, during, and post. At the request of Ken Burns’ team, and with his co-director, we covered one of the other women of the Revolution, Betsy Ambler in episode our #247!
Finally, we would lvoe to travel with you on our 2027 Field Trip to Paris! For more information and to register, visit Like Minds Travel!
Middle music from: Joseph Hyden’s KaiserquartettOpus 76; End song: Freedom, by Torii Wolfe used with permission.
56 Happy Field Trippers at the Glessner House in Chicago
In early June, we embarked on a History Chicks Field Trip to Chicago! It was five days of learning, exploring, history, friendship…and food. We traveled paths of former subjects, saw places where some had worked, stayed in a hotel owned by one, and crammed as many museums (and their gift shops) as possible into our time.
In this episode, we’re joined at the mic by some of the travelers who experienced this with us. Part history lesson, part travel journal, part recommendations: this episode has a lot to offer.
The following photos were sent in by the voices in this episode to tie into their call (and a couple photos from us.)
Palmer Mausoleum at Graceland CemeterySo you don’t have to hunt down her Facebook page; Susan and her first Rainbow ConeCocktail Party Kick-off view…not so shabby!Mrs. Glessner’s phone list–got some heavy hitters on there, Mrs. G! At Glessner HouseDetail of just one of the Tiffany windows at the Second Presbyterian Church. Photo from Carmen, by Kris MKDana J had a theme of miniatures on this trip and forgot to mention this one from Hull House photo credi Dana
“I forgot this little miniature gem in my discussion, which was found at the Jane Addams Hull House Museum. This is a cross-section of a resident’s room- Dr. Rachelle Yarros, a Russian immigrant who was an obstetrician-gynecologist working with the people in the area.”- Dana J.
Nancy saw this map of “our” 1893 World’s Fair at the Chicago History Museum. Photo credit Nancy RBeth S loved the costume exhibit at the Chicago History Museum photo credit Beth SDiorama of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair at the Chicago History Museum One of Cynthia K’s sidequests was a ghost tour by boat on the Chicago RIver. Spooky image credit Cynthia K.One of Kris’ foodie sidequests with tour friends was Balkan food at Ambar. Photo credit Kris MKRavi had a Ferris Bueller-inspired plan, and part of it was fulfilled at the Art Institute. Photo credit CarmenAmy and Field Trip friends at Second City sidequest
Time Travel With The History Chicks
There are a couple of spaces left for our August, 2026 Field Trip to the Loire Valley in France and we would love for you to join us! For more information and to register, visit Like Minds Travel.
Need more time to plan? We did announce our 2027 Field Trips in this episode. Registration is not open yet, but keep an ear out, we’ll share at the beginning of an episode when it opens or visit our travel partners at Like Minds Travel.
April: Paris
Late June: Scotland
September: San Francisco
October: Japan
We all loved visiting Francis Glessner Lee’s childhood home, we’re sure you will, too! Glessner House
Graceland Cemetery is the final resting place of our old friend, Bertha Palmer, and so many more. We were disappointed in the lack of spotlight on the women buried there, but the Chicago Architecture Center offers a tour created by Laurie Russell and Mary Jane Hoag that didn’t! The tour is available, and if you are in the area, you should go take it!
A couple of travelers highly recommended the Driehaus Museum!
We were all dazzled by Second Presbyterian Church! For information and tours, visit their friends!
Bertha Palmer wore a lot of hats: Chicago socialite, patron of the arts, real-estate magnate, and all-around Gilded Age powerhouse. Her leadership of the Women’s Building of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition drew praise from all over the world. (and criticism, too!) We’ll also tell you about her influence on Impressionist art in America, and her surprising third act as a Sarasota land developer.
Bertha Honoré Palmer was born on May 22, 1849 in Louisville, Kentucky to Henry Honoré and Jane Carr Honoré. She was the second of six children born into a family of wealth and a heart for real estate speculation and development. The family moved in 1855 to the very small, but soon to be growing (thanks railroads!) town of Chicago, Illinois.
As Bertha’s father bought and developed large swaths of land there, Bertha grew up with the city. Educated at the city’s finest schools, she finished her education in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. and returned to Chicago at 18. She made her debut, juggled suitors, and married 44-year-old Potter Palmer three years later. (He was a family friend and had known him since she was a young teen…basically, he was well vetted.)
Palmer Castle, Chicago, Illinois. Built in the mid-1880s, but demolished in 1950.Photo circa 1920 via wikicommons
Potter’s history with Chicago paralleled Bertha’s father in real estate, but he also had established a very popular (and profitable) retail store that he sold just a few years before their marriage (it became Marshall Field’s.) The couple had plans to move into his newest business venture, and gift for his bride: the Palmer House Hotel in the State Street shopping district that he was developing. However, the Chicago Fire of 1871 nearly destroyed both Bertha’s family and her new husband’s wealth by burning to the grown all they had built including the hotel that had only been open for 13 days, But, the tragedy allowed both of them (and other wealthy folks in the city) an opportunity to rebuild safer structures and also develop land in a less cattywompus way than it had been.
Bertha 1893 with her President of the Lady Manager’s gavel. via Library of Congress
Bertha was a mom of two boys, and a socialite who not only donated money and time to organizations that helped women and children, like Jane Addams Hull House, but she also learned what those groups did and helped them find ways to turn their plans into realities. As a master Get-Stuff-Doner, she was tapped to be the President of the Board of Lady Managers, a group charged with spotlighting women’s accomplishments in the 1893 Columbian Exposition, the World’s Fair in Chicago.
The Women’s Building at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
If you’ve been listening to us for any period of time, you know we have a thing for this particular World’s Fair. So many of our former subjects visited, exhibited at, had their work shown, and even protested it (the fair was far from fair when it came to people of color.) We took advantage of this opportunity to talk a great deal about the fair. How could we not?
After the fair, Bertha leaned into society activities, including collecting art with a focus on the Impressionists. She traveled with her husband all across Europe and made her mark on East Coast society in Newport, Rhode Island.
In 1902, when Bertha was 53, 76-year-old Potter died. They had a marriage that had been full of love and respect; they worked together so well on many projects that Potter had imparted his business wisdom to her. She grieved the loss and never remarried, but she didn’t fade into the background. After an extensive time in Europe (she was in the close social circle of “Bertie,” King Edward VII of the United Kingdom–he takes up a lot of one’s time) she cast her eyes far south of Chicago to the warm sunshine of Florida.
And, there, following in the footsteps of her great- grandfather, father, and husband, she bought up gobs of land in and around Sarasota and developed it. Like ya do.
Bertha’s snazzy car, via Crawford Museum
But all good runs must end. On May 5th, 1918, 68-year-old Bertha Honoré Palmer died in her Florida home. She was laid to rest at the Potter Mausoleum at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. A large number of her remaining pieces of art were donated to the Art Institute of Chicago (where Potter gets the credit. Sigh.)
Potter Mausoleum, Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois
Time Travel with The History Chicks
Books!
By Ishbel RossBy Frank A. CassellBy Jeanne Madeline WeimanText by Stanley Appelbaumby Marian Shawby G.L. Dybwood and Joy V. BlissThanks, Dr. Canfield! (I think the rest of you can find it online somewhere.)
Chicagology has a lot on Bertha, as well as the development of the city and other prominent citizens, and areas including this piece about Ashland Boulevard, where Bertha grew up.
The Chicago History Museum is an AMAZING visit, if you’re in the city GO! Now! Or maybe at your earliest convenience. Their website has this article about the Palmer House history. You can still stay at the Palmer House Hotel (now owned by Hilton) we did on our recent Field Trip to the city, and were dazzled by her beauty. And you can still get the OG Brownie there, either on a plate or as the garnish on a Brownie Old Fashioned (if you’re over 21, of course.)
Want to learn more about the Potter Castle on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago? Start here at The Story of a House. Bonus! The site is mostly about our one of our favorite Gilded Age houses, and the childhood home of a former subject. The site is run by the fine folks who protect and share it the Glessner House (that you can also visit.)
Official Catalog! The exhibits and program of the Women’s Building–this might be considered a book, it’s 150+ pages long. It is VERY cool, you might get lost in this glorious rabbit hole. Some of the thousands of pieces of art in the Women’s Building can be found at Curationist.Org
More details on Bertha’s time and impact on the Sarasota, Florida area from Visit Sarasota.
If you are in Chicago, plan a stop at the Art Institute of Chicago, and visit the paintings (mostly Impressionists) that Bertha had donated to seed their collection.
We said, “I can’t wait for you to see this” so many times, so head on over to our Pinterest Board specifically for the 1893 World’s Fair and Bertha Palmer for all of those! (We have a board for each former subject, if you are interested in tumbling down those rabbit holes.)
Moving Pictures!
PBS has a half-hour documentary about Bertha. It’s available for rent on Prime, but you can find it elsewhere.
End music: After the Ball, written by Charles K. Harris in 1892. This version is from 1925, performed by the International Novelty Orchestra.
Anne circa 1684 Williem Wissing and Jan van der Vaardt
Queen Anne of Great Britain and Ireland did not have the longest reign, nor was she a dynamic ruler full of personality and dazzle, but she was better than that. She quietly had a long and loving marriage, suffered the emotional toll of 17 pregnancies and the deaths of the only three children that survived infancy, and instituted changes that are still relevant today. She was a popular and thoughtful monarch who brought stability to a country that had seen more than its share of chaos, and she did that despite England’s involvement in a war that lasted nearly the entirety of her reign.
