Sarah Josepha Hale Editor

Long before Vogue or Glamour caught women's attention, Godey's Lady's Book introduced the latest fashions.

- Barbara Brooks Simons

The magazine also gave readers a look at the world beyond their homes. Sarah Josepha (Buell) Hale (1788-1879) guided its content for four decades. She was the first American woman to manage a major publication. As editor, she influenced many aspects of American life in the mid-1800s.

Hale was born on a farm in Newport, New Hampshire, in 1788. Her parents believed girls should be educated just like boys.

She studied her brother's college textbooks and became a teacher.

At first, her life looked typical for women in the early 1800s. In 1813, she married a young lawyer, David Hale. They had five children within seven years.

David encouraged Sarah's writing. The couple also formed a small literary club with some friends. But in 1822, David died suddenly from pneumonia. Sarah became a widow with five young children to support.

She briefly ran a hat shop to make a living. She also published a book of original poems. A few years later, she published a successful novel.

Northwood: Life North and South focused on the nation's thorny political issue of slavery. It brought her considerable fame in New England.

A local Episcopal minister offered Hale the chance to edit a new monthly magazine for women.

It required her to move to Boston.