Sara Jeannette Duncan

Anna Snaith (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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Sara Jeannette Duncan was born in December 1861 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Her mother and father had emigrated from Ulster and Scotland respectively. Charles Duncan ran a prosperous dry-goods business, and the large family enjoyed a comfortable existence. Duncan, educated at local schools and in Toronto, trained to become a teacher, but always wanted to be a writer. In 1880, when her first article appeared in

The Canada Monthly

, her journalistic career was launched. Her coverage of the 1884 New Orleans Cotton Exposition led to jobs on the

Washington Post

(1885-6), the

Toronto Globe

(1886-7) and the

Montreal Star

(1887-8). Duncan was the first woman to hold an editorial position on a major Canadian newspaper. Her ambition and her belief in women's emancipation lay behind her success in…

740 words

Citation: Snaith, Anna. "Sara Jeannette Duncan". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 January 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1349, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1349 Sara Jeannette Duncan 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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