TLS signed “E. H. Shackleton,” two pages, 8 x 10, The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition letterhead, February 9, 1914. Letter to Celia Foldstein in New York. In part: “I note that you say my geographical position may induce me to make a comment or two on the militant wing of woman’s uprising; as a matter of fact, my geographical position precludes me from any source of information as regards women, as my explorations are conducted in the only part of the world where your sex is non-existent as we are shut off, first by a thousand miles of ice and then by two thousand miles of stormy sea from the nearest land that is able to boast of women inhabitants. It may be that during my sojourn in that dark country, being so far away from outside influences, we may attain the true perspective of the cause that concerns so large a section of the female population of the world and of yours just emerging from your teens, in particular. I have in my time, since I became an explorer, been asked many questions not at all appertaining to exploration and have been asked to do many things from the opening of a Bazaar to opening a tin of Sardines. I have been asked my views on Divorce and my views on the local weather but have never yet been asked my views on the militant wing of woman’s uprising and I do not feel competent to make any statement. I do not know whether you have ever read Kipling’s poem ‘The Song of the Danish Women.’ The first verse runs as follows:—‘What is a woman that you forsake her / And the hearth fire and the home acre / To go with you, grey widow maker?’ The continuance of the poem expresses the general point of view of woman as concerned with exploration.” In very good to fine condition, with a few small old mounting remnants to the front of the first page, and the second page trimmed slightly in height.
After returning from a his major Antarctic expedition in 1909, Shackleton found himself a welcomed as a hero—especially in Great Britain—and gained worldwide fame. With this newfound public attention came the requests for opinions and appearances that he mentions in this letter. A militant women’s suffrage campaign commenced in the United Kingdom in the early 20th century and had reached a fever pitch by 1914, thus the interest in Shackleton’s views on the subject. At this time he was busy planning the Endurance Expedition, and would embark on the disastrous voyage later in the year. Pre-certified PSA/DNA.
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