Women's History Month - Susan Glaspell

On December 20th in 1900 John Hassock was murdered at his home in Indianola, Iowa.  Young reporter Susan Glaspell covered the crime and the trial for the Daily News, a Des Moines newspaper of the time. Hassock was an abusive husband.  His wife Margaret was accused and convicted of the crime. These events were the inspirations for Glaspell's play Trifles and short story A Jury of her Peers. Both focus on the different ways men and women view the world, communicate, and make decisions. And in both the play and story, women hide evidence that might convict the accused wife. A Jury of her Peers refers to the personal verdict of the women rather than the legal one handed down by a jury of 12 men. Glaspell's work was a groundbreaking examination of gender roles and the impact they had in the justice system.  Powerful stuff.

Gale Biography in Context
Stanford Law Review, Patricia L. Bryan Copyright 1997:  "Stories in Fiction and in Fact: Susan Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers" and the 1901 Murder Trial of Margaret Hossack."

Susan Glaspell Books