James Greene,

ca. 1780

In the late eighteenth century, the practice of writing was a mark of distinction. Writing connoted the transaction of commerce, law, correspondence, and other affairs considered gentlemanly, as seen in three of these portraits of accomplished American citizens. In contrast is a depiction of the successful published poet Annis Boudinot Stockton, a politically active correspondent of George Washington—and likely the most literate among the group. She is portrayed without reference to writing or other qualities that defined her public persona, reflecting the era’s patriarchal gender conventions. In place of a quill, she holds a flower, a symbol of fertility, positioned in such a way as to draw attention to her décolletage rather than to her intellectual capabilities. Washington recognized her talents, writing to Stockton about one of her poems, “I think the easy, simple, and beautiful strains with which the dialogue is supported, does great justice to your genius.”