1755 – Hannah Adams, the first woman in America to earn her living as a writer, was born in Medfield, Massachusetts. A pioneer in comparative religion, Adams wrote A Dictionary of Religion, and many other books. James Freeman, The Unitarian minister of King’s Chapel in Boston, was a strong supporter of Adams, and she was the only woman allowed into the Boston Athenaeum. Adams’ writings were standard Unitarian Sunday school texts for two generations.