Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author McKivigan, John R., 1949-

Title Forgotten firebrand : James Redpath and the making of nineteenth-century America / John McKivigan
Published Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2008

Copies

Description 1 online resource (xvii, 291 pages) : illustrations
Contents The roving editor -- The crusader of freedom -- Echoes of Harpers Ferry -- Commissioner plenipotentiary for Haiti -- The radical publisher -- Abolitionizing the South -- The Redpath Lyceum Bureau -- Entertainment innovator -- The adopted Irishman -- Jefferson Davis's ghostwriter
Summary The reformer James Redpath (1833-1891) was a focal figure in many of the key developments in nineteenth-century American political and cultural life. He befriended John Brown, Samuel Clemens, and Henry George and, toward the end of his life, was a ghostwriter for Jefferson Davis. He advocated for abolition, civil rights, Irish nationalism, women's suffrage, and labor unions. In Forgotten Firebrand, the first full-length biography of this fascinating American, John R. McKivigan portrays the many facets of Redpath's life, including his stint as a reporter for the New York Tribune, his involvement with the Haitian emigration movement, and his time as a Civil War correspondent. Examining Redpath's varied career enables McKivigan to cast light on the history of journalism, public speaking, and mass entertainment in the United States. Redpath's newspaper writing is credited with popularizing the stenographic interview in the American press, and he can be studied as a prototype for later generations of newspaper writers who blended reportage with participation in reform movements. His influential biography of John Brown justified the use of violent actions in the service of abolitionism. Redpath was an important figure in the emerging professional entertainment industry in this country. Along with his friend P.T. Barnum, Redpath popularized the figure of the "impresario" in American culture. Redpath's unique combination of interests and talents-for politics, for journalism, for public relations-brought an entrepreneurial spirit to reform that blurred traditional lines between business and social activism and helped forge modern concepts of celebrity
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-271) and index
Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL
digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL
Print version record
Subject Redpath, James, 1833-1891.
SUBJECT Redpath, James, 1833-1891
Redpath, James, 1833-1891 fast
Subject Redpath Lyceum Bureau.
SUBJECT Redpath Lyceum Bureau fast
Subject Social reformers -- United States -- Biography
Journalists -- United States -- Biography
Abolitionists -- United States -- Biography
HISTORY -- United States -- 19th Century.
Abolitionists
Journalists
Politics and government
Social reformers
SUBJECT United States -- Politics and government -- 1849-1877. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140438
Subject United States
Genre/Form Biographies
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2007038281
ISBN 9781501732263
1501732269