In 1852, Emma Snodgrass Was Arrested For Wearing Pants
In late December of 1852, a woman was arrested in Boston because she was wearing pants.
In 1852, Emma Snodgrass was arraigned in Boston because she was a woman wearing trousers. This was a time when activists were calling for “rational dress” for women, including bloomers and trousers, as an alternative to long, bulky skirts.
This article has a lot of interesting tidbits on Emma Snodgrass.
Emma Snodgrass made good copy. In the space of 2-1/2 weeks, the Boston Herald ran five news items about the young woman wearing pants, according to Carol Mattingly in Appropriating Dress. On November 15 the Herald reported Emma Snodgrass had been “visiting places of amusement around Boston.”“Snodgrass used to circulate in all the drinking houses, made several violent attempts to talk “horse,” and do other things for which “fast” boys are noted,” reported the Daily Alta California in an item called “Letter From Boston.”
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