Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney

Who was Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney?

Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney was a writer, reformer, and philanthropist, born on Beacon Hill, Boston to Sargent Smith Littledale and Ednah Parker. She was educated in private schools in Boston. She was secretary of the School of Design for Women from 1851 till 1854.

She married portrait artist Seth Wells Cheney on May 19, 1853. His ill health limited his volume of work and after a winter trip abroad he died in 1856. They had one child, Margaret Swan Cheney Edna's daughter, Margaret Swan Cheney died of tuberculosis while a student in the 1882 class at MIT and a reception room of the Women’s Chemistry Laboratory was named in her memory.

After her husband's death she took an interest in social concerns such as the Freedman's Aid Society, Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association, New England Women's Club and the New England Hospital for Women and Children. She lectured at the Concord School of Philosophy on the history of art. She was an active member of the Margaret Fuller conversation class.