Howe, Helen. The Gentle Americans: Biography of a Breed.

New York: Harper & Row, 1963. In describing the world of her mother, Fanny Quincy Howe, she writes, “There was no sense of social superiority on Mother’s part, only a built-in distrust of a background redolent of ecclesiasticism – understandable in one sprung from the Unitarian tradition said to proclaim the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man, and the Neighborhood of Boston.” But the author goes on to admit, “Suffering myself from this mysterious Boston complaint, I cannot diagnose its cause, only describe its symptoms. Any outsider would, I am sure, lightly dismiss the victim of the disease as “snooty” . . . I can only testify that it feels more like inadequacy than arrogance, but I do not dare go further.”