The Poetess: Sappho

Sappho was a lyric poet known for her verses on romantic love between women. There is not very much known about the person Psappha, or Sappho as she is known today and most of her poetry has been lost to us due to a variety of reasons. We do know that Sappho was born some time around 620 BCE (7th century) on the Greek island of Lesbos. Her presence there, combined with the love poems she wrote seems to be where the word "lesbian" began. This word was a 19th century term and was not used during Sappho's own time. There are speculations that her family was fairly wealthy and a consensus that she did marry and had a daughter named Kleis. She was exiled to Sicily twice for political reasons, though those reasons have never been specified. One of her students opened a school for girls in her name to which she herself is sometimes given credit for founding. She did organize her own students into a group that worshiped Aphrodite, Goddess of Love. Sappho died somewhere around the year 570, though a specific date or how she died are unknown.

Sappho was known throughout the Greek world for her musical and personal lyric verses. Greek philosopher Plato referred to her as the tenth muse. She invented a completely new meter for poetry, now known as Sapphic Meter or the Sapphic Stanza which consists of three lines of eleven beats and a concluding line of five. Of course the meter is sometimes off when the poems are translated out of their original Aeoilic Greek dialect. 

Though most of her surviving poetry seems to have a focus on lesbian love, there is not definitive proof one way or the other to confirm she was (or was not) a lesbian herself. Her poems certainly can be interpreted as biographical or they can be interpreted as a character role separate from the writer. She did write verses occasionally about other topics typical of the ancient world, including a poem with verses about her own brothers. Her poems were meant to be sung and accompanied by a lyre and her lyrics became known as wedding songs. The Library of Alexandria (shake head and shed tear here for the tragic loss of such wonderful collections) compiled her poems into 9 books. Sadly only one complete poem, Hymn to Aphrodite, and a few verses from other poems survive today. She was honored and praised among her contemporaries and for many centuries after her passing. Statues and coins in her image have been found throughout the Greek world. The only reason Hymn to Aphrodite survived in its entirety is because it was fully quoted by a Roman orator named Dionysus in one of his own works. Sappho was much sought after for her performances and her image was reproduced on all kinds of "merchandise" around the Greek world. Vases, coins, bronze relief and art can be found sporting her image. She was kind of like the world's first pop star!

             

 Fragment 31 

That man to me seems equal to the gods,

            the man who sits opposite you

            and close by listens

            to your sweet voice

          and your enticing laughter—

            that indeed has stirred up the heart in my breast.

            For whenever I look at you even briefly

            I can no longer say a single thing,

            but my tongue is frozen in silence;

     instantly a delicate flame runs beneath my skin;

            with my eyes I see nothing;

            my ears make a ringing noise.

            A cold sweat covers me,

            trembling seizes my body,

        and I am greener than grass.

            Little short of death do I seem.

Tender and longing, ardent and desirous, envious and jealous, bittersweet and rapturous in the moment; Sappho's works are heavy with emotion. Her poems are simple and profound at the same time. They capture the essence of love and life and present them to the audience to experience as well. 

I love the sensual.

For me this

and love for the sun

has a share in brilliance and beauty

I desire

And I crave.

You set me on fire.

A servant

of wile-weaving

Aphrodite...

 Eros

Giver of pain...

 Eros

Coming from heaven

throwing off

his purple cloak.

Again love, the limb-loosener, rattles me

bittersweet,

irresistible,

a crawling beast.

As a wind in the mountains

assaults an oak,

Love shook my breast.

The Three Smith Sisters

  Everyone knows Abigail Adams; wife of John Adams, second President of the United States and her famous "remember the ladies," quote. Few people have much knowledge about her sisters Mary and Elizabeth.


  The Smith girls were born to William and Elizabeth Quincy Smith in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Abigail and her two sisters did not receive a formal education like their brother William, but were taught by their father who was a preacher. Abigail was an avid reader and loved to debate with the students that often met and sometimes lived at the Smith home. She and her sisters were prolific letter writers and always tried to see who could out-write and out-wit the others. The three sisters were very close and wrote to each other as often as their busy home lives would allow. They also believed in equal education for both sexes and all were upset that their brother regarded it disdainfully when it was so accessible to him. All three sisters made sure that their own daughters were taught the classics, philosophy, languages and math and science; subjects that were decidedly male.

  The sisters also became caught up in the politics of the world. As the times in which they lived began to change, so too did the sisters thinking and political ideas began to change. Abigail especially, as the wife of a congressional delegate and then ambassador in Europe, felt the pull of politics and always kept up with political news and ideas and worked tirelessly to help John as he became more important to the formation of the new country. At first all of them craved anything to do with their "Mother Country" of England. As Parliament began to enact taxes that the colonies felt were unjust, so too did the Smith sisters begin to think less of England as home and more of America as their true country. Abigail wrote in 1773 "... the tea that baneful weed is arrived. Great and I hope effectual opposition has been made to the landing of it." Betsy,  writing to her cousin Isaac at Harvard remarked that "A glorious spirit of Liberty prevails among you." The sisters also began making their own homespun clothes instead of fabrics imported from England. 

  Mary, the oldest sister, was born December 9, 1741. When Mary was 14 she met the man with whom she would spend the rest of her life. Richard Cranch was an Englishman staying at the Smith home. He was a quiet, studious man from a poor family, and he was 15 years older than Mary. Richard decided to take it upon himself to tutor Mary and her sisters and he taught them all about Shakespeare, the Enlightenment, French and many other subjects. This of course endeared him to all the females in the Smith household. After Mary and Richard were wed in 1762, they moved to Braintree and then on to Salem. Mary gave birth to her first baby, a daughter she named Elizabeth. Another daughter, Lucy followed. Shortly after their son Billy was born the Cranches moved to Boston after they were chased out of Salem by Tory sympathizers in 1774. Richard was not much of a business man and most of his endeavors did not prosper so the Cranches were not as well off as the Adams. They finally settled in Quincy, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. For the most part, Mary was content to arrange the lives of her children and nieces and nephews along with the people in Quincy. The Cranches outlived their daughter Betsy and took in their 8 grandchildren. Mary wasted away under the harsh life with tuberculosis and she and Richard died just a few days apart in 1811.

  Abigail was born November 11, 1744. When she was very young, she was sick with rheumatic fever that was so severe she became paralyzed for two weeks. She would have recurring bouts with this sickness throughout her life. It was through Mary's beloved Richard Cranch that Abigail first met John Adams in the summer of 1759. Each had an unfavorable impression of the other. Two years later, upon meeting again, John decided that nothing would do but for him to marry Abigail. Her parents still weren't fond of John and insisted on a long engagement. John and Abigail were married on October 24, 1764. They moved to Braintree and lived in a small house beside John's mother on 23 acres of land. Their first daughter Abigail (Nabby) was born in 1765 and John Quincy was born two years later. Another girl was born but died fourteen months later. Two more boys, Charles and Thomas would complete their family. She did become pregnant again but the baby, a girl, was stillborn.
  
  Since John was away from home for long periods of time, Abigail was tasked with the daily management of their farm; as landlord, farmer, and banker. As John's eminence in America rose so did Abigail's popularity but she missed her husband terribly. When John went off to play ambassador to France, Abigail was beside herself with loneliness and reproached him often for not writing to her. This dismissal from her husband's affections led to a bit of a scandal with another married man named James Lovell. They began a writing correspondence in which he boldly flirted with her and to which she made no move to stop. A letter Lovell wrote to another congressional delegate was intercepted by the British and was printed in a Tory newspaper. In it was sexual reference that made Lovell look bad and embarrassed his wife. This apparently woke Abigail up to the dangers of their correspondence. She sent him a letter scolding him for being so forward but her letter sounds like she was more angry at herself for letting things progress so far out of moral bounds. "No situation more delicate, more critical or more liable to censure than that of a Lady whose Husband is away," she wrote to Lovell. Finally John asked his wife to join him in London. Sister Shaw took in Abigail's youngest sons and saw to their education while she was away. They weren't in England long before John was sent back to France. In 1787 after John had been in Europe for over a decade and Abigail with him for four of those years; the Adams's set sail for America. When John was elected Vice-President of the newly formed United States Abigail was happy for him but not ready to part again. Eventually she went to New York and then to Philadelphia to be with him. As Vice-President, Adams received $5,000 a year but this was not enough to support their two households and Abigail had to scrimp to get by.  When Adams became the second President his salary increased to $25,000. In 1800 the capitol was moved to Washington D.C and Abigail became the first First Lady to live in the White House. When John lost the next presidential election Abigail was happy to return to some kind of normal life at her home Peacefield, located in Quincy. She still worried about money since at that time there was no pension offered to former presidents. The lost of the presidency was compounded by the death of their son Charles from liver failure. They settled into retirement at Peacefield but sadly they outlived their son Thomas, who like Charles and Abigail's brother, died from alcoholism and their daughter Nabby who died from breast cancer. Abigail herself died in 1818 of typhus fever. She was the last of the Smith sisters.

 Elizabeth (Betsy), born on April 7, 1750 was the youngest of the girls. When she was just a young girl she became so ill that the doctor gave strict orders that she was not even to read or write. After Abigail was married, Betsy lived off and on with her in Braintree while John was away working as an ambassador for the colonies. Since Betsy was the youngest, she spent the most time at home nursing her parents as they grew older. Judging from her letters to their Cousin Issac Smith, it appears that Elizabeth may well have been in love with him. Though she refused to confirm her feelings, she wrote to him of their "friendship formed in infancy, which has been cemented by the most rational esteem in maturer years." Eventually, she and Isaac drifted apart and letters became less frequent as life pulled them in different directions, especially when Isaac admitted he was a Tory; sympathetic to the British. In 1773 Elizabeth met John Shaw. She was 22 and he was 24. Abigail did not like Shaw but Betsy assured her that neither had any designs for marriage; writing up a fake official document and attaching Shaw's signature that she cut off from another letter and sending it to Abigail. "We...have no such purpose in our hearts, as has been unjustly surmised." But contrary to the protests John Shaw and Elizabeth were married in 1777. John became a minister and Elizabeth was happy to tend her new home and garden and the new society she met in her new parish of Haverhill. By 1781 the Shaws had two children and when Elizabeth turned 39 she was pregnant with her third child. She named her new daughter after her sister Abigail in hopes of reconciling her to the new baby. Sister Adams was appalled by this late in life pregnancy and even after baby Abbey was born, Abigail refused to write to Elizabeth for months. In 1793 John Shaw passed away in his sleep at the age of 47. In letters later sent between the Smith sisters and the townspeople of Haverhill, it came to light that John Shaw had been an alcoholic and possibly abusive. Elizabeth didn't stay a widow for long. In fact she was courted by several eligible men in the area. One of those men was her old friendly correspondent and cousin Isaac but he waited too long. Another minister, Parson Peabody, was already there proposing on the same day that Isaac had ridden over to do the very same thing. On the day the ceremony was set to take place came a horrible snow storm. The Parson would not wait and arrived promptly on time to pick her up. During the ceremony itself someone came running into the church yelling that her own house was on fire! Their marriage seemed to run much more uneventfully than their wedding day. They set up a school in their home and Elizabeth felt she had found her place in helping to mold future generations. Unfortunately tragedy marred her happy home when her oldest daughter, Betsy Q, contracted tuberculosis and by September 1798 she had passed away. The Peabody's Atkinson Academy continued to prosper. In 1815 Elizabeth passed away in her sleep.

  All three sisters spent their lives living for each other and living to make changes in a changing world. Their letters are lasting evidence of the deep bonds that sisterhood and a collective shared experience can create. They were witness to revolution, rebellion, war, and reform, death, and life. The Smith sisters fought to challenge societal norms by teaching their own children and their grandchildren that a woman's intellect was no less than a man's. Even though they participated in separate spheres, men and women should work to complete and compliment each other. Mary, Abigail and Elizabeth fought to make history and to change the future. 

For further reading:

Dear Abigail: The Intimate Loves and Revolutionary Ideals of Abigail and her two Remarkable Sisters - Diane Jacobs

John Adams - David McCullough

Abigail Adams: Letters - Abigail Adams, Edith Gelles

Abigail Adams - Woody Holton

First Family: Abigail and  John Adams - Joseph J. Ellis



  

Anne of Cleves -

  Anne was the fourth wife of Henry VIII and was able to survive his beheading obsession and go on to live a full life. 

  Anne's father was duke of Cleves (German: Kleve) and her mother was the daughter of the duke of Julich, which means she was pretty well connected in Germany. Where the heck is Cleves anyway? Cleves was a duchy located on the Lower Rhine region of northwest Germany near the Dutch border. Cleves had been an important town since the 11th century and became a duchy in 1417. Her father John established Lutheranism throughout his duchies so it makes sense that she would be proposed as a possible match to the king who brought Protestantism to England.

  Anne was born on 22 September in 1515 in Dusseldorf, Duchy of Berg. She was 24 and Henry was 48 when they married on the 6th of January in 1540 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London. Henry objected to the marriage and tried to find a way out of the betrothal contract but no one could find a way to end it. He told Cromwell on the day the marriage took place that "if it were not to satisfy the world and my realm, I would not do that which I must do this day for none earthly thing." So, why did Henry agree to marry her in the first place? He needed political Protestant allies. So, why did Henry become so against the marriage? Who know? It's Henry VIII. Actually there were a few reasons, though they might not make much sense to us.

  While marrying site unseen to make political alliances was totally the norm back in Henry and Anne's time, this idea did not appeal to Henry. He preferred to prowl on his own to find a wife he desired. He asked for a painting of Anne so that he might know what she looked like. Being put off by Anne's people, Henry sent his own painter to Cleves to paint a portrait of Anne. Henry wasn't keen on the marriage idea after seeing her portrait but was convinced to carry on because of the Protestant alliances that was to be made. 

Portrait of Anne of Cleves by Hans Holbein the Younger commissioned by Henry VIII

  Henry contrived to meet Anne by surprise as she made her way to London. The first time they met he was in disguise. Henry loved to disguise himself to see if people could see through his costume. His true love surely must be able to see the man behind the mask. Unfortunately when Anne met Henry in his disguise she did not instantly recognize him as her true love. Accounts of this first meeting say that Henry embraced and kissed her and presented her with New Year's gift from the King. Anne, not knowing who he was, rejected him and pushed him away. This was a great disappointment and turn off for Henry. No true love for him with Anne.

  Even though Henry thought Anne "well and seemly," she was not the great beauty that she had been reported to be and her appeal grew less and less. She did not speak English and was uneducated. This was another turn off for Henry who liked his women smart and witty. He was reportedly so repulsed by her looks that after four days of marriage their union had still not been consummated. Anne described their nightly ritual to one of her ladies in waiting saying he would take her hand, kiss her and wish her a good night and would leave the same way in the mornings. On July 9th, six months after their marriage took place it was unanimously declared null and void by Parliament. 

  The fact that Anne kept her head figuratively through all of this drama is why Henry allowed her to keep her head literally. She had been made aware of Henry's plans to annul the marriage from a letter sent by him in June. At first she was upset and fainted, but after giving it some thought and consulting with her clergy, she was satisfied with the arrangement. I mean, who wouldn't be? She got to remain with the living, with an attached head and was granted lands worth £4,000 a year. All Anne had to do was renounce the name of Queen of England for that of the King's "sister" and stay in England the remainder of her days.

  So what did Anne think of Henry, their brief marriage and her life in England after the annulment? We don't know much about her thoughts and actions before coming to England. She did convert from Lutheranism to Anglican when she arrived in England. Since Anne had no education she was probably very innocent and naive but the fact that she accepted Henry's wishes for an annulment shows she certainly wasn't stupid. After their marriage was annulled, Anne became an honorary member of Henry's household and was invited to court often. She reported that the King was always kind to her. Henry was so grateful she didn't make a stink over the dissolution of their marriage that he decreed she had precedence over all other women at court except for his wife and daughters.

  When Henry's daughter by his first wife ascended to the English throne as Mary I, Anne of Cleves rode beside Mary's sister (and future Queen) Elizabeth in the coronation procession. Anne once again changed her religion, this time becoming Catholic since Mary I was a Catholic herself. Anne eventually fell out of favor with Mary because of her close connection to Elizabeth and Mary stopped inviting her back to court.

  Anne died at Chelsea Manor in July of 1557, just eight weeks before her 42nd birthday. In her will she asked Mary and Elizabeth to employ her servants. She also left some money for her servants who described her as generous and an easy-going mistress. She was buried on August 3rd in Westminster Abby and is the only wife of Henry VIII to be buried there. 

For further reading on King Henry's probably least known wife check these books out:

Anne of Cleves: Fourth Wife of Henry VIII - Mary Saaler

Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII's Discarded Bride - Elizabeth Norton

The Marrying of Anne of Cleves. Royal Protocol in Early Modern England - Retha Warnicke

                                

Fashion Friday! The Chemise

che·mise

SHəˈmēz,SHəˈmēs

noun

1. a dress hanging straight from the shoulders and giving the figure a uniform shape, popular in the 1920s.

   • a woman's loose-fitting undergarment or nightdress, typically of silk or satin with a lace trim.
   • a priest's alb or surplice.

   
   

   
   
2. Today we take a look at an article of women's clothing known as the chemise or the shift. 

The Chemise most likely evolved from tunics which were garments worn by Greco-Roman men and women as well as Celtic men and women. Originally called a smock by the Saxons, the term became interchangeable with chemise, a Norman (French) word for a man's shirt. The word shift was used also but was considered a vulgar term used by lower classes. It was a loose fitting garment typically knee length worn next to the skin to provide a layer of protection to outer clothing from body oils and sweat. This helped to keep outer garments lasting longer since it reduced the need for washing.They were also worn as night gowns. Wealthy women might own several shifts, while poor, working or country women may have only owned one.

Materials used for the chemise varied from fine linen, holland, and cambric to cotton, and silk. Depending on the neckline of the dress, the chemise could have a high neckline with embroidery, lace or ruffles, or a low neckline that was not meant to be seen. They were almost always white. Sleeve and hem length also varied as the style of women's dress changed through out history. Some extant examples show bobbin lace or embroidery all the way down to the waist or along the seams to act as reinforcement. Sometimes they were heavily perfumed to help cover body smells or the smells from the laundering process.

                                                                                    Chemise pattern 

The chemisette was a "little chemise" used to fill in the neckline of a gown without the added bulk of a full chemise. 

                                                                                       Chemisette

Queen Marie Antoinette of France shocked genteel society by allowing herself to be painted in a Chemise dress. This dress, also called chemise a la reine or gualle, was such a contrast to the normal attire of constricting, large hooped dresses worn at the French court. These dresses were made of light, gauzy muslin, tied with a sash around the waist and gave the impression that the wearer was in hardly more than her undergarments! These dresses were so thin that they garnered the nickname the Influenza Dress.

                 Marie Antoinette in Chemise Dress Oil on canvas 1783 Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun

The chemise took on many styles such as the princess chemise, or the empire chemise with a sloping front waist and puffy short sleeves. In 1877 a new style of combining a chemise and drawers together came on the fashion scene making the basic chemise outmoded. This garment could have a back or front opening and were worn to obtain the desirable female figure. By the mid 1900's the chemise was shortened into a vest-like garment but retained its original name. Also by this time it was no longer being worn as sleep wear. Separate garments known as pyjamas were the commonly worn clothing attire to sleep in.  

Today a modern chemise is still typically an unfitted, loose flowing women's undergarment. Chemise dresses are still in fashion as well and basically have the same form and function.

Further reading:

The History of Underclothes - C.Willett and Phillis Cunnington

Clothing Through American History: The Federal Era -Antebellum 1786-1860 - Ann Buermann Wass and Michelle Wenn Fandrich

https://www.janeausten.co.uk/the-chemisette/

Suffragettes of Tennessee

"Bullets and ballots are not companions, but ballots in the hands of people are supposed to be a substitute for bullets in the hands of hired agents...Thanks be to God that in giving women the crown of motherhood he made her the giver not the taker of life. Woman has no greater claim to the rights of the ballot than she is a producer not a destroyer of life." - Lizzie Crozier French

                                                       Suffrage Poster

       
                                             

Everyone knows of the tireless efforts of women like Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Lucretia Mott, Carrie Chapman Catt and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in their fight for the right for women to vote. Their names have become synonymous with Women's Suffrage. Few people have heard of these remarkable Tennessee women that helped convince the Tennessee Legislature to ratify the Susan B. Anthony bill; known today as the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. 

 In order for an Amendment to pass and become law it has to pass through both houses of Congress and then be ratified by a majority of 36 states. In 1919, the 19th Amendment passed through both houses of Congress. Six states ratified the bill immediately. Twenty nine states soon followed suit while six Southern states rejected it. Florida, North Carolina, Vermont, Connecticut, and Louisiana opposed the Amendment. The last two states to decide were Delaware and Tennessee. When the bill was defeated in Delaware every breath was held and every eye turned to Tennessee. 

                                                  Anti-Suffrage Poster


Tennessee had it's own "War of the Roses" as anti-suffragists campaigned using a red rose to symbolize their stance and suffragists choosing a yellow rose. Nashville was flooded with campaigners and lobbyist. On August 9, 1919 a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly was called; requested by Sue Shelton White. The bill finally passed the Senate on Friday, Aug. 13 by a margin of 25-4 with one senator abstaining. The bill was then handed off the the House where it was debated for three more days. A test vote to table the resolution lost on a 48-48 tie and, knowing another tie vote would defeat the bill  an anti-Suffragist immediately called for another vote to kill the amendment in Tennessee. Rep. Harry Burn, after having just received a letter from his mother urging him to ratify, voted "Aye" to the resolution The bill now had a 49-47 majority in the Tennessee House of Representatives.  On August 18, 1919, Tennessee certified the ratification, becoming the 36th state to do so and making the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution the law. Women everywhere celebrated their win. They now had the right to vote! 


Tennessee was an important factor in deciding the fate of American Women and so were these ladies that you, dear readers need to know about. There were many women in the state that came together to make their voices known. History has not left us with the names of every Tennessee suffragist but we remember their collective effort to support the cause. Now I would like to introduce you to the following remarkable Tennessee Suffragettes.

                     The Tennesee Woman's Suffrage Memorial depicts Lizzie Crozier French, Anne Dallas Dudley, and Elizabeth Avery Meriwether. The three women represent the three different regions of Tennessee. It is located in Market Square Mall, downtown Knoxville, TN


Anne Dallas Dudley 
"Every reform is started by a minority."
Anne was from a wealthy family in Nashville. Anne Dallas Dudley, daughter of Trevanion Dallas, a wealthy cotton mill owner, and great niece of George Dallas, who was James K. Polk's vice president.  She was a strong believer in the Woman's Suffrage Movement. Anne shocked all of the Nashville elite by organizing the first suffrage parade not only in Nashville, but in the South. Sixty automobiles, decorated with yellow banners, paraded from the Capitol to Centennial Park. To counter the criticism that suffragists ignored their families, Anne Dallas Dudley was joined in the lead car by her husband, Guilford Dudley, co-founder of Life & Casualty Insurance Co., and their children. She helped found the Nashville Equal Suffrage League in 1911 and convinced Susan B. Anthony to hold the national conference for her American Woman Suffrage Association at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. In the 1930s Dudley served as president of the Maternal Welfare Organization of Tennessee. This group brought birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger to Nashville in 1938 to increase public awareness of birth control. She is buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.


Sue Shelton White
"We should be ashamed to stand on ground won by women in the past without making any effort to honor them by winning a higher and wider field for the future."
"Miss Sue" as she was called, was born in 1887 and grew up and lived in Henderson, a suburb of Nashville. Unlike most suffragettes, her parents were both teachers and they lived very modestly. Left an orphan at the age of 14, Sue vowed to pursue an education so she would not become anyone's financial responsability. She moved in with her aunt and enrolled in George Robertson Christian College and then went on to study at West Tennessee Business College. In 1907, Sue became one of 
the first female court reporter in Tennessee. In 1912, while living in Jackson, TN, Sue became a founding member of the Jackson League of the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association (TESA) and was elected recording secretary the following year. She wavered back and forth between the two different Suffrage organizations; the NAWSA (The National American Woman's Association) and the NWP(National Woman's Party). She was elected chairwoman of the Tennessee chapter of the NWP after breaking ties with the NAWSA for good. In 1919, she was elected as editor of the NWP;s newspaper Suffragist. After the radification of the 19th Amendment which finally gave women the right to vote, Sue moved to Washington. D.C. to pursue a law degree. In 1923 she recieved her degree and was admitted to the Bar. She continued to fight for women's equality and helped draft the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1926, Sue moved to Jackson TN and became the city's first female lawyer. Sue is the only known female Tennessean who was jailed for her participation in the suffrage cause. She was a member of the NWP protest party that burned an effigy of President Wilson in front of the White House. She died in 1943 from cancer.

Lizzie Crozier French 

Lizzie Crozier was born in Knoxville on May 7, 1851 to Congressman and local attorney John H. Crozier. While little information is known about her mother, Lizzie was one of three girls born into the family. Lizzie was educated at the Convent of Visitation at Georgetown in Washington, D.C. and at a private Episcopal School in Columbia, TN. Lizzie married William French at age 21 and together they had a son. William died after only two years of marriage and Lizzie took a teaching position at the Knoxville Female Academy. In 1885, Lizzie French, along with her sisters Lucy and Mary founded a school for "young ladies and children" at the Knoxville Female Academy, where the sisters developed an educational curriculum that taught children more than just the basics of reading and writing. They did so well that the school became known throughout the city and was one of the most popular among parents and students for its approach to education. 
On Nov. 20 of that same year, French invited 12 women to the Knoxville Academy to organize a literary group like the one she had visited while traveling in New York. The 12 women who chartered the organization that night chose the name the Ossoli Circle. In 1896, French founded the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union and used her position in the organization to become the first 
woman to address the Knoxville City Council appealing for the appointment of a Police Matron– a female police officer for women offenders who would assist in the care and treatment of the females arrested by police. She convinced the City Council of the need for one and filled the position herself for several months until the city could hire someone permanetely. She then became the first woman to address the Tennessee General Assembly, lobbying on behalf of efforts to establish a separate prison for women and children in the state of Tennessee, which led to the establishment of both institutions. In 1912, Lizzie was elected president of the Tennessee Suffrage Association. She also became the first woman to address the Tennessee Bar Association. French continued her work in Knoxville founding and serving as president of the Knoxville Equal Suffrage Society and becoming a leading member of the National Women’s Party(NWP). On Aug. 9, 1919, the special session of the Tennessee General Assembly was called to order. Lizzie, then 68 years old, was there using her voice. Lizzie remained an active member of the Knoxville community and made a bid for City Council in 1923, but was defeated. Three years later, at the age of  75, she traveled to Washington, D.C. to help the National Women’s Party furnish a room in honor of the Tennessee suffragists and also secure introduction of a bill in Congress to benefit working women in America. On May 14, 1926, while still in D.C., the Tennessean quietly passed away. Her body was returned to her hometown in Knoxville where she was laid to rest in the city’s Old Gray Cemetery.



Elizabeth Avery Meriwether
 “But when will women have the right to vote?  I have been taught to believe that taxation without representation is tyranny.”

Elizabeth was born in Bolivar, TN in 1824. Her father was a Quaker physician and her mother was the daughter of a Virginia planter who had moved to Tennessee. Elizabeth's parents died when she was 22. She and her siblings lived in poverty until her brother Tom finally received his law degree. In January 1850, Elizabeth married Minor Meriwether, a civil engineer. He later joined the Confederate Army to fight for the South in the War Between the States. Elizabeth found her name on a list of outspoken Confederate officer's wives who were to be removed from their homes near Memphis or face arrest and incarceration. Elizabeth had two small children and was pregnant with her third. She attempted to follow her husband's unit, and delivered her third child in a stranger's house on Christmas night in 1862. She resorted to stealing corn for food for her children, selling clothing and even sneaking back into Memphis on a dangerous mission to pay taxes so her property would not be sold at auction. She eventually ended up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. During this time she began writing stories and selling them to newspapers. After the war Minor Meriwether purchased a modest Memphis home for his family on the current site of the Peabody Hotel. Elizabeth petitioned occupation forces under Union General Stephen A. Hurlburt, in an effort to regain title to her girlhood home which had been confiscated by the Union during the war, and was finally successful. Thus recognized as a property owner and tax payer, she obtained a voter registration in 1872. In 1876 she went to the polls and attempted to vote in the presidential election of that year. (At this time I have not verified whether she was actually allowed to vote. It was rumored that they dropped the ballot in the box to keep her happy and then destroyed her ballot later. ) She was one of the first women in the state to publicly push for women's suffrage in the early 1870s. She wrote letters to newspapers and published a pamphlet about women's rights. For a year, she published a small newspaper, The Tablet, which showcased her views on women's issues, divorce law and equal pay for women teachers. In 1876 she made one of the first public suffragist speeches in Memphis. She was active in the Women's Christian Temperance Union and belonged to the National Woman Suffrage Association, and presented unsuccessful women's suffrage petitions at both the Democratic and Republican national conventions in 1880. In 1881, Meriwether joined Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony on a speaking tour. She also continued to write, publishing several books. In the late 1800s, the Meriwethers moved to Saint Louis, Missouri where they built Meriwether Mansion. Just before her death on November 4, 1916, Elizabeth wrote her memoirs entitled Recollections of 92 years. She did not live to see the 19th Amendment become law. She is buried in  Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.

                                                                 Suffrage Parade

Mary Cordelia Beasley Hudson
Mary was the first woman to legally vote in Tennessee. Mary was born in Benton, Co. TN on August 1, 1851. She was the daughter of Reuben Beasley and Elizabeth Brown.  On January 9, 1872, she married O. B. C. Hudson in Benton County.  She and her husband had six children and operated a grocery store near their home in Camden, TN. On April 5, 1919, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a limited suffrage act. Governor Albert H. Roberts signed the suffrage bill into law on April 17, 1919.  A few days following this, on Tuesday, April 22, a municipal election was held in Camden.  Mrs. Hudson, who had joined the suffrage movement in 1918, cast her vote and was quick to point out that she voted for the winner of the election, A. V. Bowls. I have not been able to find out much more than this but I will continue to research.


Further Reading:
The Woman Suffrage Movement in Tennessee - Antoinette E. Taylor
More than Petticoats: Remarkable Tennessee Women - Susan Sawyer
The Perfect 36: Tennessee Delivers Woman Suffrage - Carol Lynn Yellin and Janann Sherman
Recollections of 92 Years - Elizabeth Avery Meriwether
One Woman, One Vote; Rediscovering the Woman Suffrage Movement - ed. Marjorie Spruill Wheeler. Troutdale, OR: NewSage Press 1995
Votes for Women!:The Woman Suffrage Movement in Tennessee, the South, and the Nation - Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press 1995
http://tennessee.gov/tsla/exhibits/suffrage/beginning.htm
National Women's History Museum

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born February 7th, 1867 in Pepin, Wisconsin to Charles Ingalls and Caroline Quiner. Most of her life was recounted in her famous "Little House" books which were adapted into a T.V. show in the 1970's.  She was the second of four children. In 1874, the Ingalls family left Wisconsin for Walnut Grove, Minnesota, where most of the T.V. series takes place. Two years later, the family moved to Burr Oak, Iowa, where her father became part-owner of a hotel. But the hotel business must not have been too lucrative because the family moved back to Walnut Grove a year later. In 1879, Laura's family moved again to the Dakota Territory.

Laura's father built a homestead in De Smet, South Dakota. Both Laura's parents lived there until they died and the house that "Pa" built is still standing and open for tours.  In 1882, at the age of fifteen, Laura received her teaching certificate. This is when she met/courted Almanzo "Manly" Wilder, the man she would spend the rest of her life with.  For the next three years, Laura taught at a small country school several miles from her home in De Smet and boarded with a family who lived nearby. Almanzo began coming to pick Laura up from school every Friday to take her home to her family, and every Sunday he would bring her back to the family she was boarding with while teaching. Thus began Laura and Almanzo's courtship.

Laura and Almanzo were married on August 25, 1885 in a very simple ceremony at the local Reverend's house in De Smet. Laura quit her teaching job to help Almanzo work their farm. The following year, on December 5th, 1886, their daughter Rose was born. In August of 1889, Laura gave birth to a boy that would not survive infancy. 

The Wilders moved to Mansfield, Missouri in 1894, where they built a farm they called Rocky Ridge. Here, Laura would write her famous "Little House" books recounting her life growing up. Here, Laura and Almanzo would both die. Laura wrote her first book, an autobiography titled "Pioneer Girl", some time in the late 1920's but no one would publish the work.  This work has recently been published by the South Dakota State Historical Society. She decided to change the autobiography from a first person point of view to third person and broadened the story to include more of her family and neighbors. She also geared it towards children. In 1932, the first of the "Little House" books was published. Laura was sixty five years old. Seven more "Little House" books would be written and published. Laura passed away at her Rocky Ridge home on February 10, 1957. She was ninety years old. You can also tour this home.

Laura Ingalls Wilder left a great legacy for all of us to share. How many of us read her books as children? How many of us grew up watching the television adaptation of her books? She made the struggles and harsh realities of living in the western frontier of the United States in the late 1800's real to many people, but she also let us share in the love that her family had for each other.

Did you know?
Did you know that Rose Wilder Lane was the last direct descendant of Charles and Caroline. Laura's sisters never had children of their own. Mary never married, Carrie married when she was in her forties and Grace never had children with her husband. Rose married when she was in her twenties but the marriage didn't last long and there were no children produced.

Further reading:
West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder to Almanzo - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Pioneer Girl - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography - William Anderson

http://www.notablebiographies.com/We-Z/Wilder-Laura-Ingalls.html

http://www.discoverlaura.org/index.html

http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/

Lydia Bean

Lydia (Russell) Bean was born in 1726 in Rappahanock County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Lt. Col. William James Russell and Martha Graydon. In 1741, Lydia married William Bean, a friend and traveling companion of Daniel Boone. Lydia and William had 10 children. They moved from Virginia in 1769 to what would later become the state of Tennessee. Their first born son Russell was born the same year and is reported to be the first white person born in Tennessee.

Lydia was captured in July 1776 by hostile Cherokee Indians prior to an attack on the Wataugu settlement. The Watauga settlement was located south of the Holston River, on the Watauga and Nolichucky Rivers in the colony of North Carolina, now Tennessee.  She was intercepted as she made her way from her home on Boone’s Creek to Sycamore Shoals. She was sent to the Overhill Towns, a Cherokee village, and was sentenced to execution. She was actually being tied to a stake when Nancy Ward, Beloved Mother of the Cherokee, exercised her right as a woman of the tribe (the women usually decided the fate of captives) to spare Lydia from death. She took the injured Mrs. Bean into her own home to nurse her back to health. In return Lydia taught Nancy and the other women of their tribe many new and useful ways of the white man, and it is said that Lydia was the one who introduced cows into Cherokee society by giving some of her own cattle to Nancy Ward.

Several members of the Bean family were killed by hostile Indians, including a brother and one of her daughters. Lydia herself lived to be 62 years of age and she died on June 18, 1788 in Grainger County, Tennessee.


The introduction of European ways into Nancy Ward's tribe by Lydia Bean helped to effectively change the gender dynamics of Cherokee society. The men began to take the place of women as farmers while the women were expected to do common white women's chores such as making clothes and making butter and cheese.

                       Historical Marker at the location of Bean's Station, a stopping point for travelers

                                          Historical Marker for the Bean family cabin





Further research:
Bean Family Genealogy

Bean Station

Annals of Tennessee - J.G.M Ramsey