"Gail Hamilton" was Mary Abigail Dodge (1833-1896), American essayist and one of the founders of Our Young Folks. In pieces humorous, satirical, and sentimental, Dodge covered domestic subjects, the American Civil War, and women's rights; Woman's Wrongs, in 1868, attacks criticisms of the women's rights movement, specifically the Rev. John Todd's Woman's Rights. Gala Days is a collection of eight essays -- six of which appeared originally in the Atlantic Monthly -- on topics serious and frivolous: the family canary, a journey through New York and Canada, young children and women with loved ones fighting the War. She includes a scathing look at cultural expectations of motherhood.