Louisa Woodworth Sanborn Foss (April 19, 1841 in Thetford, Vermont[1] – September 22, 1892 in Malden, Massachusetts[2]) was regarded as the best American elocutionist in her day. Compared to Charlotte Cushman, Foss was counted among the first woman elocutionists in the world.
Louisa Sanborn was a native of Thetford, Vermont. She was educated at Thetford Academy, Vermont.[3]
She became a teacher and subsequently married Eliphalet J. Foss, the Boston photographer. After a few years of home life, she adopted the profession of an elocutionist, studying with Richard Reeve Baxter of Harvard College. Her local reputation as a reader was long known to the literary circles of Boston,[4] where she was affiliated with the Boston Academy of Elocution and Dramatic Arts.[5] By 1883, she had been before the public for five successive seasons, her engagements extending through the principal cities of twenty-two States,[3] and extending from the east coast to the west.[6]