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Acknowledgments
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xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I first discovered Laura Fair through a seminar I taught at the University of Delaware on murder and madness in the nineteenth century. As such, I wish to thank all those students who brought enthusiasm and insight to the many trials that we deconstructed. I am also grateful to the UD history department’s faculty and graduate students who, through the Delaware History Workshop, helped me think through the meaning of this narrative. My colleagues Arwen Mohun, Anne Boylan, and James Brophy offered invaluable suggestions; my staff, Doug Tobias, Cathy Allison, Pat Orendorf, Angie Hoseth, and Janine Johnston, know how much their support meant to me. The University of Delaware also provided me with a respite from administration to begin this work, as did support from the Richardson Chair of History. When I moved to New Orleans, Laura and her story traveled with me— which perhaps is ironic, as this is the city in which her story began. I was asked to give the inaugural lecture for the Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at Tulane University, and faculty and students from this program served as an outstanding audience for working through the gender issues embroiled in this trial. The School of Liberal Arts extended resources for obtaining the photographs and for providing subvention support. In my office, Nicole Westerfield contributed her seemingly endless talents in the preparation of the illustrations and the manuscript, as did Tara Hamburg in making sure multiple copies arrived at the University of North Carolina Press in a timely manner. My friends and colleagues Tom Cole and Dena Shenk, more used to me talking about the history of old age than western women’s history, generously provided me with their wisdom as I thought through the meaning of this narrative. At the University of North Carolina Press, Chuck Grench reminded me of the need to balance the chronicle with historical theory in an attempt to “keep the story moving,” and Sara Jo Cohen worked patiently as we sought to turn historical photographs into usable modern prints. The insightful suggestions of the outside readers for this press, historians Gordon Morris Bakken and Patricia Cohen Cline and legal scholar Patricia L. Bryan, xii / Acknowledgments greatly improved this work, although I, of course, am responsible for any errors in the text or interpretation. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Peter Rothstein, and my children for their unending support and patience. Noah and Emma, to whom this book is dedicated, probably heard far too much about Laura Fair. As they left the house to begin their lives, Laura and the evidence of her history came to fill their rooms. On their return visits, I am sure they will be delighted to see that the space has once again been rightfully returned to them. [54.144.81.21] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 03:03 GMT) The Trials of LAURA FAIR This page intentionally left blank ...