Fuller, Margaret

Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1810–1850), known as Margaret Fuller, was a journalist, editor, and literary critic. She was the first U.S. woman to work full-time as a newspaper’s book critic and was the first woman to cover war for a newspaper. Her book Woman in the Nineteenth Century is considered the first major feminist work in the United States. Fuller was an advocate of women’s rights, especially women’s education and the right to employment. An important contributor to the articulation of Transcendentalism, which emphasized the inherent goodness of people, she also encouraged many other reforms, including prison reform and the emancipation of slaves. This entry explores Fuller’s early life and work and her career as a foreign correspondent.