1878 -- On hearing a talk by Methodist minister and Chautauqua Institution co-founder Dr. John Heyl Vincent, Bessie Bramble wrote: "He asserts that woman's sphere is not in the kitchen among the pots and pans but in the parlor with painting on china and crochet. This concession on his part, shows the vast expansion of his mind as compared with those who contend that women were created for cooks and nursemaids."

1880 -- In a column about the life and work of Susan B. Anthony, written because one Pittsburgh woman "who lives in luxury" and only reads newspapers for the marriages, deaths and want ads had never heard of her: "Think of it! A woman so given over to tucking, ruffling, embroidery, tatting, pillow-shamming and crewel work that she cannot read the papers."

1880 -- On admitting women to Western University of Pennsylvania (University of Pittsburgh, which served only men until 1895): "Co-education in the high school is a notable success: why not in the university?"

1883 -- Bessie Bramble is appalled at news reports of a young German woman named Barbara, who was living and working in the home of a Pittsburgh man named John Daub. When she injured herself lifting a tub of water, Barbara was sent to St. Francis Hospital but refused admission. Her employer called a doctor to examine her at home, but when the doctor discovered she was pregnant, Daub put her out on the street, "where she lay on the sidewalk in full view of the Mayor's office for fully an hour in the most extreme agony" before a "poor woman" came by, got her onto a streetcar and took her to West Penn Hospital. For Bessie, the moral of the story was this for women involved in charity work: "Not a woman should move a finger for any hospital where aid and succor were not as freely extended to woman as to men."

1883 -- On social clubs: "The Cotillion Club, recently organized in the East End, prides itself, it is said, on the blue blood of its members, who have determined that no shoddy members shall be tolerated within its ranks. ... One family is ignored, they say, because although very wealthy now, the mother was once a telegraph operator. ... This suggests an interesting problem. At what stage of existence do the descendants of a butcher become blue-blooded?"

1884 -- Bessie Bramble urges women to run for the position of school directors in their communities, even if they couldn't vote for themselves or each other: "This is a grand field to show forth the influence of women ... nowhere could an intelligent, sensible woman do more real tangible good than on the school board." She offers a list of 30 women who would make conscientious school directors.

1885 -- Reacting to news that Pittsburgh's city fathers have rejected Andrew Carnegie's offer of a free library because the people won't consent to further taxation to support it: "It is a disgrace to and a standing illustration of the stupidity of the authorities that a great city like Pittsburg has neither a public library nor a public park, and that even when the money is offered as a gift to establish a library they have not the grace or the sense to accept it."

1890 -- On women's clubs: Bessie Bramble attends a New York convention of 64 women's clubs and discusses their role as a force for social change, establishing scholarships, educating themselves in history and the arts and culture, providing books and clothing to schoolchildren. She also is cheered to see that New York University has voted to admit women to its schools of law and philosophy partly because, as they see it, "The more [women] can and do know, the more attractive they become to men, and the more they dominate their affections.

"Now there's an admission."

-- Compiled by Patricia Lowry