The First Lady of Manners: A Look at Emily Post

The First Lady of Manners: A Look at Emily Post
Etiquette, extending to almost every facet of life, once served the purpose of treating others with consideration. “The Suitor,” 1938, by Vittorio Reggianini. Oil on canvas. Private collection. Public Domain
Jeff Minick
Updated:
Some American books not only are bestsellers, but they may also profoundly influence American culture and society.
Whether they’ve read Mark Twain or not, most Americans are familiar with his novel “Huckleberry Finn.” When President Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” he supposedly said, “So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war,” referring to the explosive effect of Stowe’s novel on Northern abolitionism. Though little read today, books written by muckrakers like Ida Tarbell and Upton Sinclair changed national policies regarding such entities as the oil industry and meat-packing companies.
Jeff Minick
Jeff Minick
Author
Jeff Minick has four children and a growing platoon of grandchildren. For 20 years, he taught history, literature, and Latin to seminars of homeschooling students in Asheville, N.C. He is the author of two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust on Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning as I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” Today, he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va.
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