First Lady of Letters: Judith Sargent Murray and the Struggle for Female IndependenceJudith Sargent Murray (1751 1820), poet, essayist, playwright, and one of the most thoroughgoing advocates of women's rights in early America, was as well known in her own day as Abigail Adams or Martha Washington. Her name, though, has virtually disappeared from the public consciousness. Thanks to the recent discovery of Murray's papers including some 2,500 personal letters historian Sheila L. Skemp has documented the compelling story of this