Hurricane Jessie

Abstract

This article considers the career and life of Jessie White Mario. Her journalism and writing offer a unique perspective on the tumultuous period of Italian history, during the Risorgimento, yet are often overlooked. Her later work highlighting the terrible plight of workers in Sicilian sulphur mines was fundamental in raising awareness of their situation. Yet, it too is largely unknown in the country of her birth. Motivated by the love of a country that was not her own, defiant of the strictures and expectations placed upon her, because of her gender, White Mario is a figure that should be celebrated and remembered, not consigned to future neglect.