# Martha Vicinus

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American scholar of English literature and Women's studies

Martha Vicinus Martha Vicinus at "The Future of the Queer Past" conference at the University of Chicago in September 2000 Born (1939-11-20) November 20, 1939 (age 86) Rochester, New York United States Occupation Historian, Writer Language English Nationality American Education Northwestern University Johns Hopkins University University of Wisconsin Subject Women's Literature Modernism Nineteenth-Century Britain Gender and Sexuality Modern British History Notable works Independent Women Suffer and Be Still A Widening Sphere

**Martha Vicinus** (born November 20, 1939) is an American scholar of [English literature](/source/English_literature) and [Women's studies](/source/Women's_studies). She serves as the Eliza M. Mosher Distinguished University Professor of English, Women's Studies, and History at the [University of Michigan](/source/University_of_Michigan).[1] Prior to coming to the University of Michigan, Vicinus was a faculty member in the English Department at [Indiana University](/source/Indiana_University) from 1968 to 1982.[2] She has written several books about Victorian women as well as gender and sexuality. She earned a PhD from the [University of Wisconsin](/source/University_of_Wisconsin) in 1968.[3]

She has been noted for drawing attention to the Victorian [double standards](/source/Double_standard) that were applied to women and to the Victorian ideal of women without sexual desires.[4] She has argued that society often defines sexuality through a male heterosexual perspective.[5]

In addition to her career as a scholar, she has been active as an advocate of [anti-war](/source/Anti-war_movement) and [LGBT](/source/LGBT) causes.[6][7]

## Selected works

- Coeditor, with Caroline Eisner. *Originality, Imitation, and Plagiarism: Teaching Writing in the Digital Age*. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780472900480](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780472900480).

- *Intimate Friends: Women Who Loved Women*. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780226855639](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780226855639).

- Editor. *Lesbian Subjects: A Feminist Studies Reader*. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780253330604](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780253330604).

- Coeditor, with [Martin Bauml Duberman](/source/Martin_Bauml_Duberman) and [George Chauncey, Jr.](/source/George_Chauncey) *Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian Past*. New York: New American Library, 1989. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780452010673](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780452010673).

- Coeditor, with Bea Nergaard, *Ever Yours, Florence Nightingale: Selected Letters*. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780674270206](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780674270206).

- *Independent Women: Work and Community for Single Women, 1850-1920.* Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780226855677](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780226855677).

- *The Ambiguities of Self-Help: Concerning the Life and Work of the Lancashire Dialect Writer Edwin Waugh*. Littleborough: George Kelsall, 1984. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780946571000](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780946571000).

- *A Widening Sphere: Changing Roles of Victorian Women*. London: Methuen, 1977. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780253365408](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780253365408).

- *Broadsides of the Industrial North*. Newcastle upon Tyne: F. Graham, 1975. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780859830638](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780859830638).

- *The Industrial Muse: A Study of Nineteenth-Century British Working-Class Literature*. London: Croom Helm, 1974. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780856641312](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780856641312).

- Editor. *Suffer and Be Still: Women in the Victorian Age*. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1972. Oxon: Routledge, 2013. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781135045265](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781135045265).

- *The Lowly Harp: A Study of 19th Century Working Class Poetry*. Ph.D. thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1969.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-uocp_1-0)** ["About the Author, Martha Vicinus"](http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/author/V/M/au5340543.html). University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 26 June 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-VicinusPapers_2-0)** ["Martha Vicinus papers, 1969-1980"](http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/findingaids/archives/InU-Ar-VAA2607). Archives Online at Indiana University.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-uom_3-0)** ["Profile: Martha Vicinus"](https://lsa.umich.edu/english/people/faculty/vicinus.html). *Department of English*. University of Michigan. Retrieved 23 June 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-tnyt_4-0)** McKendrick, Neil (8 January 1984). ["Sex and the Married Victorians"](https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/25/specials/gay-volume1.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved 26 June 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-thc_5-0)** Green, Elizabeth (2 October 2003). ["Fifteen Questions For Carol J. Adams"](http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2003/10/2/fifteen-questions-for-carol-j-adams/). *The Harvard Crimson*. Retrieved 26 June 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-tmd_6-0)** ["'U' Profs Sign Letter in National Anti-War Push"](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AgRKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YB4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3391,2420278&dq=martha-vicinus&hl=en). *The Michigan Daily*. 13 March 2003. Retrieved 26 June 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-tmd2_7-0)** ["Gay, Transgender Community Critique Task Force Proposals"](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lgNKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WR4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2054,2806913&dq=martha-vicinus&hl=en). *The Michigan Daily*. 27 October 2004. Retrieved 26 June 2011.

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