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A Woman of the Century: A Crowdsourcing Project of the Nineteenth and Twenty-First Centuries

February 25 - March 2

Woman of the Week

Author and poet Cynthia M. Roberts Gorton is this week's Woman of the Week.

  • To learn about her by viewing her item, please click on her image.  

  • To read her biographical sketch in A Woman of the Century, please click on the highlighted page number to the left of her image.

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GORTON, Mrs. Cynthia M. R.

February 27, 1826

poet and author

Great Barrington, MA

p. 328

Cynthia M. Roberts Gorton was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on February 27, 1826.  While attending Troy Female Seminary, she began to lose her sight.  After Cynthia married Frederick Gorton, she became totally blind.  However, this determined woman did not let her blindness stop her. 

The couple moved to Fenton, Michigan, and Cynthia became a popular lecturer.  In her talks, Gorton spoke to her audiences about temperance and other topics she was passionate about. 

Professionally, Cynthia was known as "Ida Glenwood," "The Blind Bard of Michigan," and "The Sweet Singer."  In addition to penning several books, including  Lily Pearl and the Mistress of Rosedale, she contributed to The Christian Herald of Detroit and The Magazine of Poetry. 

On August 10, 1894, Cynthia M. Roberts Gorton died at her home in Fenton, Michigan.

February 25 - March 2