Hannah ("Anna") Davis Gale (1818-1851) was born in Northborough, Massachusetts, the daughter of Capt. Cyrus Gale (1795- ) and Eliza Davis Gale ( -1821). Her mother Eliza's brother was John Davis, governor of Massachusetts. Anna spent the winter of 1837-1838 at the Greene Street School in Providence, R.I., where she was a student of Margaret Fuller (1810-1850).
Anna kept this journal while a student at the Greene Street School and includes detailed impressions of her teacher, Margaret Fuller.