Emma L. Shaw

Emma L. Shaw (June 1840 – February 1924) was an American Nonconformist who worked as a tailor and a farmer before becoming a juvenile literature book editor and associate editor of Good Health magazine in Battle Creek, Michigan. In about 1870, Shaw began her literary work in Michigan. With her friend, Ella Farman, Shaw purchased a small farm near Battle Creek and here, for several years, Farman wrote juvenile books that were edited by Shaw, and published by D. Lothrop & Co. In 1875, Shaw and Farman began editing Wide Awake in their sitting-room. The growing needs of this periodical caused the editors to move to Boston, but Shaw soon returned to Michigan and became a charter member of the Michigan Woman's Press Association. She worked on several journals published by the Good Health Publishing Company of Battle Creek, where she was an editor for many years.

Early life Emma L. Shaw was born in Junius, New York, June 1840, and lived there until she was six years old, when her parents moved to Clyde, New York. At thirteen, with her mother, she moved to Chautauqua County, now Jamestown, New York, where she lived for seven years. While in New York, Shaw spent much of her time studying and teaching, and it was there that she met Ella Farman.

After her mother married a second time, Shaw accompanied her mother and stepfather to their farm near Battle Creek. She spent a few years there, and began corresponding with Farman. Shaw suggested that they share a home together.

Career Shaw and Farman were interested in the lives of Alice and Phoebe Cary, sibling writers who lived together, and hosted gatherings of notable people. Shaw and Farman resolved that they, too, would found a home. Shaw received a small inheritance, which allowed them to buy a small farm, and they filled the farmhouse with old donated furniture. They made Turkish trousers of sturdy cloth, which were worn under dresses that were short enough to allow them freedom of movement.

Using the name of D. A. Shepherd, Farman wrote a fictionalized story of their adventures, Two Girls That Tried Farming, which was published in The Atlantic Monthly. The story was later expanded, and published as a book under Farman's own name.

Failing health and death Shaw became blind in 1922, and died in February 1924.