Emily Hawthorn

Emily Thorton Charles, who published under the pseudonym Emily Hawthorn, is the author of two books of poems: Hawthorn Blossoms (1876) and Lyrical Poems (1886). She worked as a journalist; her professional positions included managing editor of Washington World and editor of The National Veteran. She was also a professional elocutionist, giving speeches on women’s suffrage. Hawthorn served on the executive committee of the National Woman’s Press Association, and as chair of the Washington Society of American Authors. Her life was marked by loss: both her father and a brother died in the Civil War. She married Daniel B. Charles but was widowed by age 24 in 1874, and raised their two young sons on her own.