Harriet Maxwell Converse

by George Dance Harriet Maxwell Converse (1836-1903) was an American poet.

Life
Harried Maxwell was born in Elmira, New York. She married Frank Converse, and the couple settled in New York City around 1866. Converse, a critically well-received poet, became increasingly interested in the Iroquois people of the Six Nations in upstate New York. She was adopted by the Snipe Clan of the Seneca nation, and later confirmed as a Seneca chief, the first white woman to hold that position.

Publications

 * The Ho-de'-no-sau-nee: the Confederacy of the Iroquois (the Six Nations): A Poem. New York *& London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1884.
 * Myths and Legends of the New York Iroquois (essays, edited by Arthur C. Parker). 1905.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the New York State Council on the Arts.