Review of Judith Ranta, The Life and Writings of Betsey Chamberlain: Native American Mill Worker

By reconstructing the life history of Betsey Guppy Chamberlain (1797-1866), historian and librarian Judith Ranta has done some fine detective work that illuminates an otherwise little known aspect of women’s lives in nineteenth century New England. This compilation will be useful for scholars of social history, yet there is one significant flaw. Ranta champions Chamberlain as a Native American author, and she has organized the collected works to emphasize this point.