Judith Sargent Murray
An early advocate for women’s rights in America, Judith Sargent Murray was also one of the first promoters of equality between the sexes. The Massachusetts Magazine (1789-1796) gave her an outlet for her opinions. In 1790, the magazine published her landmark essay entitled “On the Equality of the Sexes” in two parts.
Murray wrote under various pseudonyms including Constania, The Reaper, Honora Martesia and, most famously, as her male persona, Mr. Virgilius or The Gleaner. It is under the latter alias that she published a compilation of her essays that had appeared in the Massachusetts Magazine.