Elizabeth Birkmaier Explained

Elizabeth Birkmaier
Birth Name:Elizabeth Green Davey
Birth Date:March 31, 1845
Birth Place:Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation:Writer, clubwoman
Signature:Elizabeth G. Birkmaier signature.png

Elizabeth Green Davey Birkmaier (March 31, 1845[1] – December 30, 1912) was an American writer and clubwoman. She wrote a novel about Atlantis, Poseidon's Paradise (1892).

Early life and education

Birkmaier was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Hugh G. Davey and Maria W. Davey.

Career

Birkmaier wrote a novel, Poseidon's Paradise (1892), and two dramas, Atlantis (1894) and Deucalion (1912),[2] all based in the mythology of Atlantis.[3] [4] A review of her novel in The Overland Monthly called it "remarkable" and asked, "though we may suspect that Mrs. Birkmaier has made her ancients far too advanced in civilization in this or that particular, who shall say it was not her right to do it?"[5] "It is evident that long and careful study has been given to the subject," noted the Alameda Daily Argus in its review, which admired her "peculiarly fresh inventive genius."[6]

Birkmaier was founder and first president of the Tea Club of Alameda, California,[7] [8] and an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.[9] In 1893, she and her husband were sued by the Women's Exchange and Relief Society for possession of the Women's Exchange building in Alameda, after a split in the club's membership when it was incorporated.[10] [11]

Publications

Personal life and legacy

Elizabeth Davey married George Lewis Birkmaier.[14] They lived in Alameda, California until 1898,[15] and had three children. She died in 1912, at the age of 67, in East Orange, New Jersey.[16]

Birkmaier's novel was one of the few works by women included in a 1959 bibliography of American science fiction from 1880 to 1915, with the note that it was "apparently the earliest American pseudo-historical romance to use the Atlantean setting."[17] Poseidon's Paradise continues to be discussed by historians, more than a century after its publication.

Notes and References

  1. Some sources give her birth year as 1847, including the 1900 U.S. Census, via Ancestry. In support of the 1845 date, she is listed as a five-year-old in her parents' household in the 1850 U.S. Census, and her gravestone uses the 1845 birthdate.
  2. Book: Library of Congress Copyright Office . 110, 508. Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870 to 1916 . 1918 . Johnson Reprint Corporation . en.
  3. Book: Johnson, Benjamin Heber . Escaping the Dark, Gray City: Fear and Hope in Progressive-Era Conservation . 2017-04-04 . Yale University Press . 978-0-300-22776-5 . 41. en.
  4. Book: Sachs, Aaron . Arcadian America: The Death and Life of an Environmental Tradition . 2013-01-08 . Yale University Press . 978-0-300-18905-6 . en.
  5. December 1892 . Recent Fiction . The Overland Monthly . 20 . 120 . 662.
  6. News: 1892-11-26 . A Literary Exception . 2024-06-29 . Alameda Daily Argus . 3 . Newspapers.com.
  7. News: January 3, 1913 . Mrs. Birkmaier Dead . San Francisco Call . 5 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  8. News: 1898-05-05 . Social and Personal . 2024-06-29 . The Daily Encinal . 4 . Newspapers.com.
  9. Book: Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine . 1908 . National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution . 143. en.
  10. News: 1893-11-22 . Alameda . 2024-06-29 . San Francisco Chronicle . 10 . Newspapers.com.
  11. News: Birkmaier . Elizabeth G. . 1893-10-06 . Lack of Harmony; Discord in the Woman's Exchange . 2024-06-29 . Alameda Daily Argus . 3 . Newspapers.com.
  12. Web site: Poseidon's paradise : the romance of Atlantis / by Elizabeth G. Birkmaier . 2024-06-28 . HathiTrust . 2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t8w951q8r?urlappend=%3Bseq=12 . en.
  13. News: Birkmaier . Elizabeth . 1898-04-20 . A TImely Lesson in American Patriotism; The Celebration of Patriots' Day in Massachusetts . 2024-06-29 . Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News . 6 . Newspapers.com.
  14. Book: Directory of the Chapters, Officers and Members . 307. 1908 . en.
  15. News: 1898-05-09 . Untitled society item . 2024-06-29 . Alameda Daily Argus . 4 . Newspapers.com.
  16. News: 1913-01-02 . Former Resident Dead at Home in East; Mrs. Elizabeth Birkmaier, Well Known Here, is Called to Rest . 2024-06-29 . The Evening Times-Star and Alameda Daily Argus . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  17. December 1959 . An Annotated Checklist of American Science Fiction, 1880-1915 . Extrapolation . 1 . 1 . 7 . Internet Archive.

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