Martha R. Field

[2][1] Field wrote a weekly column, "Catherine Cole's Letter", the topics of which ranged from literary news to personalities, short stories, and travel pieces.

[5] She also founded the first circulating library in New Orleans[1] and helped found the New Orleans Training School for Nurses, the Women's Exchange, several local kindergartens, and the local branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

[3] In 1892, Field embarked on a tour of Louisiana to report on the state's local attractions, receiving warm welcomes that attested to the wide reach of her vividly written columns.

[2] In the 1890s, Field developed hand tremors, which led to a diagnosis of "paralysis agitans", now known as Parkinson's disease.

In her final years, she was cared for by her daughter, continuing to write and later dictate her columns until the last few months of her life.

[2] Tulane University holds an archive of Field's newspaper articles along with photographs, scrapbooks, and other material.