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singer used to sing.? Writing under the nom de plume of Pearl Rivers, her work was published in newspapers in New Orleans and New York, including the New York Home Journal, and in a book called simply Lyrics, published in 1873 in Philadelphia, PA. Copy of title page and Preface of the original book are attached.
In the Louisville and Nashville publication ?Along the Gulf,? Pearl Rivers was said to be ?the poet Laureate of the birds and flowers of the South.?
Later, in her senior years, she turned to serious poetry and published two major poems, called ?Hagar? and ?Leah,? published in Cosmopolitan in 1893 andl894. The former is considered her masterwork. Borrowing from the biblical story of Hagar, the poet described an Egyptian slave who rises from captivity and achieves against all odds. It is evident that her story is analogous to Eliza Nicholson?s own journey through life, not only considering her poetry, but also her business success as told below.
Success as Publisher
Against the advice of family, she accepted an invitation to be the literary critic for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. It must be considered that in the mid-19 century, women for whom work was not a necessity, did not leave the family home. Even more remarkable, Miss Poitevent was only twenty at the time. Several years later, she married the owner, and upon his death inherited the paper with an enormous amount of debt, said to be $80,000. Though advised to fold the enterprise, she kept it active and eventually paid off all obligations and made it a financial success.
This newspaper continues to this day to be an important daily, read not only in New Orleans, but all along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Ahead of her time, she was certainly an inspiration to other women, becoming the first female publisher of a major newspaper in the United States. She employed imaginative changes in the paper?s style in order to increase circulation. For example, a society page was introduced, much to the consternation of some New Orleans families. Other new departments included columns of interest to women and children, medical advice, science and agriculture, comics, and fashion. In addition, she was an advocate of humane treatment of animals and campaigned for ?a release from the tyranny of Reconstruction and a return to good government.?
In time, her management and innovative approach to publishing made the newspaper one of the foremost in the entire South.
Mrs. Nicholson published the Time-Picayune from 1876 until her death in 1896. Following her death, her estate was then the publisher until 1914. Subsequently, one of her sons ran the paper in the same capacity from 1918 to 1952.