First Person Singular by Wendy Braitman

filed in Single Women's Hall of Fame

The American Dream

October 5, 2009 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

BRENT is the fake name my father used to give when he phoned for reservations. He assumed this name because it was easier to spell than Braitman, and it didn’t sound Jewish. At the time, for my first-generation American parents living in the shadow of anti-Semitism, it felt like a safer way to connect with strangers. I longed for my own Wasp-y way out, and fantasized that my husband’s last name would turn me into a Wendy Brent or a Wendy James.

So much for make believe. There was a famous flesh and blood Brent, but she wasn’t a Protestant. Margaret Brent, born in 1601 was a Catholic, who fled England to the American colonies in search of religious freedom. I’ve been keeping tabs on her for my “Single Women’s Hall of Fame,” and was reminded of this yesterday, on the anniversary of the land grant she received on October 4, 1639, which made her one of the first Colonial women to be a landowner. She ended up acquiring almost 1000 acres, some of which she called, “Sister’s Freehold.” She was also a successful attorney and entrepreneur (practically unheard of for a woman) and most notably, 200 years before the organized call for women’s rights, Margaret Brent went in front of the Maryland Assembly and demanded the right to vote. (They said no.)

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