The Unlikely Marriage of Elaine Goodale and Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohíye S’a).

Elaine Goodale Eastman, her husband, Ohíye S’a, or Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman, and their six children, lived in three different houses in Amherst from 1903-1921. When they first arrived in Amherst, Elaine and Charles were already both well-known figures from their respective careers as authors, public speakers and reformers of Indian policy, as well as from their unusual interracial marriage which was frequently written about in the press of the day. But the early promise of their marriage dissolved during their time in Amherst, along with their union, itself, the victim of personal tragedies, professional failures and the ongoing tensions as 19^th century America yielded to a 20^th century where ideas about gender and race were rapidly changing.

This lecture will take place at noon, in the Woodbury Room of the Jones Library.

Dr. Julie Dobrow returns to the Amherst Historical Society to talk about her upcoming book, Crossing Indian Country: From the Wounded Knee Massacre to the Unlikely Marriage of Elaine Goodale and Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohíye S’a).