Monthly Archives: October 2012

The Cultural Work of Pop-Fiction

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

The four volume Twilight Saga by Stephanie Miller Today, young people love serial fiction about vampires and the dystopian future.  In the 19th century, young Americans consumed dime novels about the frontiers of that day: the American West; “exotic” locales … Continue reading →

Posted in Captivity, Dime Books, pop culture, truth-telling | Leave a comment

Many Hands, Many Voices: Writing, Editing, and Publishing Indian Captivity Narratives Part II

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

by Zabelle Stodola, University of Arkansas at Little Rock In part one, I discussed several letters having to do with the writing of Josephine Huggins’ captivity narrative, and I also considered the fact that the holograph manuscript is missing. In this … Continue reading →

Posted in history of printing, Josephine Huggins, Zabelle Stodola | 1 Comment

In Which Real Indians Are Captive to Dime Hero Wanna-bes

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

Oecetiduta commented on my post, Yellow-back Gold: “Too bad the stories of  ‘Indians’ being held captive are not shared, too.” That is precisely why historians of the western Indian wars need to pay attention to the pop-culture of the 19th century. … Continue reading →

Posted in Dime Books, Edward Sylvester Ellis, Josephine Huggins | Leave a comment

Innocence and Evil

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

This engraving, titled “The Minnesota Massacre,” faces the title page for Josephine Huggins’s story in Beadle’s Boys’ Book of Romance and Adventure No. 10. Dime publishers had extensive collections of stock artwork they recycled in multiple titles. While the expressions … Continue reading →

Posted in Dime Books, Edward Sylvester Ellis, Josephine Huggins | 1 Comment

Meet “Mrs. Huggins, the Minnesota Captive”

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

Cover (facsimile) of Beadle and Adams Boys Books of Romance and Adventure, No. 10 containing “The Minnesota Captive,” 1864, as reproduced in the Garland Library of Narratives of North American Indian Captivities, vol. 86, 1978. ***** “When the reader takes … Continue reading →

Posted in Dime Books, Edward Sylvester Ellis, Josephine Huggins | 1 Comment

Many Hands, Many Voices: Writing, Editing, and Publishing Indian Captivity Narratives

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

by Zabelle Stodola, University of Arkansas at Little Rock “Captivity narratives are tricky texts” says my friend and colleague Christopher Castiglia who teaches at Penn State University and who published the book Bound and Determined: Captivity, Culture-Crossing, and White Womanhood … Continue reading →

Posted in Captivity, Josephine Huggins, Zabelle Stodola | 2 Comments

Yellow-back Gold

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

Malaeska: The Indian Wife of the White Hunter by Mrs. Ann E. Stephens, June 1860. Edward S. Ellis’s first dime novel, Seth Jones: Captives of the Frontier, 1860, is said to have been one of Abraham Lincoln’s favorite stories. Myrtle: The … Continue reading →

Posted in A Thrilling Narrative, Dime Books, Edward Sylvester Ellis, history of printing | 2 Comments

The Remarkable Story of Edward S. Ellis

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

Edward Sylvester Ellis, 1840-1916 Who was Edward S. Ellis and what made him an authority on Minnesota history? “Wait!” you might protest, “You said Ellis wrote pulp fiction! That is very different from writing history!” Fiction and non-fiction seem like … Continue reading →

Posted in Edward Sylvester Ellis, Fiction, Josephine Huggins | 2 Comments

Fodder for Pulp Fiction

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

If Mary Butler Renville’s A Thrilling Narrative of Indian Captivity has the distinction of being the earliest extended Dakota War  narrative to appear in print, Josephine Huggins’s has another: It is the earliest to be co-opted for novelization. Cover, Dime … Continue reading →

Posted in Edward Sylvester Ellis, Fiction, Josephine Huggins, Zabelle Stodola | 1 Comment

Josephine’s Experience Becomes a Story

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

Obituary clipping: Josephine Marsh Huggins Hanthorne c. 1927. Thomas Hughes Papers, Mankato State University, Mankato, MN. Newspaper not identified. ***** Eliza Huggins’s letters, which I transcribed in the previous post in this series about  Josephine Huggins’s 1862 captivity story, told … Continue reading →

Posted in Doing Historical Research, Josephine Huggins, Primary Sources | 1 Comment