Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. II, Part 87

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716

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WOMAN'S PART IN BUILDING A COMMONWEALTH-The seventeenth and eighteenth were men centuries, and the major events in Rhode Island, related to jealous maintenance of Charter and Charter privileges, to resistance to the encroachments of contiguous but not neighborly colonies, to participation in wars of European origin which spread to America, to preparation for and the accomplishment of independence, and to the organization of the Federal government, were such as to enlist the activities of men vested with the political functions of citizenship and armed for conflict in battle. The men and youth of Rhode Island responded bravely to every call. The women bore the burdens that in every war have rested upon them. They bade farewell to the departing soldiers and sailors, they worked longer hours to maintain food supplies at home and for the men in the service, they sewed and knit and spun and wove, they nursed the sick who returned, and they mourned for those who came not back. In the building of the commonwealth they fulfilled the functions which in the industrial life of the period were centered in the home. No small part of the surplus products for export-the butter and cheese, certainly-resulted from woman's labor. To her fell also the spinning of wool and flax, perhaps also the weaving of homespun cloth, the making of family clothing, the knitting of stockings, and the application of processes for curing and storing food for winter consumption. Families were large, and though the race was hardy, the rigorous climate imposed the necessity for constant attention to health. As the economic status of the family improved proportionately with the building up of profitable trade, and wealth came to Rhode Island, servants were employed in households as workers were engaged as farmhands, but the wife and mother continued as the directing agent, carrying a greater responsibility because of the larger enterprise, even if relieved of some of the drudgery. Competent servants were not easily found, and the Indian women were almost hopeless in the environment of a white woman's household. "The Indian women could not be taught to wash English clothes or render any valuable domestic work," wrote a contemporary observer.

Withal, Rhode Island women found time for culture. Berkeley was charmed as much by the beauty and intelligence of Rhode Island's daughters as by the sturdy independence and initiative of her stalwart sons. And so it was also with other visitors who came from Europe or from other parts of America because of the salubrious climate and who tarried to marry and settle ; officers of naval vessels, who resigned their commissions, and captains courageous like Stephen Decatur, who sought naturalization because he had married a wife in Newport

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and made his home there. English officers of the army of occupation were charmed by the culture of Tory families, and French officers, fresh from the court of the King of France, as well as the American officers who accompanied Washington on occasional visits, departed reluctantly, while some either left their hearts in Rhode Island or carried away Rhode Island girls as brides. Not all the women were coquettes, and not all were so much concerned with the gayety of social life as to forget more serious things. Rhode Island women organized the Daughters of Liberty to parallel the Sons of Liberty, the patriotic society of men which was formed before the Revolution. The Daughters of Liberty worked busily, devoting hours to the spinning of yarn while America was boycotting English cloth, and refusing the solace of tea while that also was taboo. In Providence the Daughters of Liberty celebrated the repeal of the Stamp Act by a grand ball, attending which "was the most brilliant appearance of ladies this town ever saw."

The first twisting of cotton yarn into sewing thread to replace linen thread, which was uneven and hard to use, is attributed to two of the Wilkinson girls, one of whom Samuel Slater married. Betsey Baker of Providence, born Betsey Metcalf, claimed the introduction of the braiding of straw for making hats, which became an important industry early in the nine- teenth century. Betsey Metcalf, when only twelve years old, in 1798, saw a straw bonnet in the window of the shop kept by Colonel John Whipple on North Main Street, above Cheap- side. She succeeded in making a similar bonnet for herself. Years afterward she related her experience in a letter, thus: "At the age of twelve I commenced braiding. My father, Joel Metcalf, brought home some oat straw which he had just mowed-in June, 1798. I cut the straw, and smoothed it with my scissors, and split it with my thumb nail. I had seen an im- ported bonnet, but never saw a piece of braid, and could not tell the number of straws. I com- menced the common braid with six straws, and smoothed it on a junk bottle, and made part of a bonnet, but found that it did not look like the imported ones. I added another straw, and then it was right. An aunt who resided in the family encouraged me, while most of my friends said I should never learn. She would sit and hold the braid while I braided many yards, thus keeping it straight and in place. We could not make it white by exposing it to the sun ; and, knowing that brimstone would whiten other things, she put some in a pan, with some coals of fire, and set it out in the garden ; then, standing to the windward, she held the braid in the smoke, and thus bleached it. I then braided all sorts of trimming, but it was difficult to ascer- tain the number of strands. The first bonnet I made was of seven braid, with bobbin put in, like open work, and lined with pink satin. This was very much admired, and hundreds, I should think, came to see." Betsey taught others to braid straw for hats, in Providence, in towns around Providence, and Dedham. One of those whom she taught, Sally Richmond, went to Wrentham and spread the new occupation there. Other paragraphs in Betsey Baker's letter relate that she visited Dedham and made bonnets there. "There has been a story reported that I braided enough in the stage to defray my expenses. I did braid several yards, but not enough to pay my fare." She taught without compensation and was too modest to seek a patent. "Many said I ought to get a patent, but I told them I did not wish to have my name sent to Congress. I could easily earn one dollar a day, and sometimes one dollar and fifty cents, for several weeks at a time. It became a very profitable business for several years."

NINETEENTH CENTURY CHANGES-The nineteenth century ushered in marked changes in the status of women in Rhode Island. The changes were related to the introduction of the factory system, and all of the consequent reconstruction of the economic organization. The factory system, aside from a vast increase in the volume of production of manufactured com- modities, transferred many occupations from home to factory, and thus affected home life and home economy almost immediately. It involved the substitution of cotton for linen, and the

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abandonment of home spinning and weaving of flax and wool. It banished the spinning wheel from the familiar place by the hearth to the garret, until such time as some member of a later generation discovered it there and brought it out for exhibition as an ornament, or heirloom or an "antique." The range of factory production widened, and other industries passed from the home as it became more economical to buy than to produce raw material and convert it by hand labor. The change proceeded with the substitution of new for old appliances, if the latter were not banished altogether from kitchens and other rooms ; one needs to visit Mount Vernon or some other place where care has been taken to preserve a colonial kitchen and its equipment intact, in order to gain the perspective necessary for appreciation of what has taken place not only in the tools of the housewife but also in the nature of home occupations. Outside the home, the introduction of power machinery lightened labor in factories and led to the em- ployment of women, as well as the small children with whom Slater and others filled their factories. The number of women wage earners increased rapidly and steadily in Rhode Island, the earliest recruits being drawn from town and country until immigration brought both men and women to fill the thousands of positions in factories.

Whether the change was better or worse, it is scarcely possible to deny that for the majority of women the introduction of the factory system meant a long step forward toward economic independence. The factory system broke down the barrier against employment of women in other than home occupations, and marked the beginning of the entrance of women into almost so many vocations as are available for men. It led also to the enactment of a new type of legislation-of laws intended to protect women from exploitation in industry and to assure reasonable working conditions, including limitation of daily and weekly hours of employment and restriction of night work. Laws were enacted to protect women in the pos- session and use of their separate property and its income against the consequences of husband succession and ownership under the common law, and to assure daughters equal inheritance with sons in intestate succession. In the nineteenth century, largely because of the factory system in operation, woman emerged from the seclusion of the home, with prospects for career other than marriage. If not married, she was no longer restricted to the life of the spinster with folded hands in the home of father, mother, brother or married sister; she might find employment at wages or salary and live independently. Even married women found employment outside the home on occasion. In the development of the factory system in Rhode Island emphasis was placed on the employment of families.

Henry Barnard recommended, along with other measures for the improvement of public elementary schools, the employment of women as teachers, for two reasons, first, that women are usually more successful with younger children, and, second, that two women could be employed for the salary paid to one man. There had been women teachers before Barnard came to Rhode Island; otherwise he could not have been so positive in his recommendation and the reasons for it. Women replaced men rapidly in teaching positions after the Barnard survey, until the movement had gone so far that some feared the feminization of the public schools. In 1930 more than 3500 women were engaged in the service of public education in Rhode Island. Aside from the number thus employed, the training of women for teaching became a significant factor in the promotion of a better status for women generally ; the Rhode Island Normal School for a time became an institution almost exclusively for the education of women, and its graduates became prominent in movements of all kinds purposing civic better- ment. Not all entered or remained in the teaching profession ; the Normal School's influence was extended quite as much by those who withdrew from teaching as by those who continued in service. The graduates of the Normal School assisted enthusiastically in movements to promote higher education.

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CHARITABLE ASSOCIATIONS-Doubt may be entertained as to whether the changes con- sequent upon the reorganization of the industrial system in the nineteenth century, whereby the tradesman became a wage-earner, and the control of tools passed from the journeyman to the master, increased the volume of poverty related to population more than the charity made feasible by accumulation of wealth extended the number of persons who might be aided. The poor we have always had with us, as we shall always have them. No economic system yet tried has succeeded in its practical operation in abolishing poverty. No charity ever has failed exclusively because of failure to find eligible beneficiaries. The spontaneous activity of Rhode Island women with leisure turned early in the nineteenth century to charity. The Providence Female Society for the Relief of Indigent Women and Children was organized in April, 1800, and was incorporated in October, 1802. Its purposes were to furnish employment for poor women, to aid them in sickness, to assist in clothing their children and in providing for the education of the latter. Other charitable societies, not less than twenty-five, in Barrington, Bristol, East Greenwich, Johnston, Little Compton, Newport, Pawtucket and Providence, were organized before 1825. For the most part they were related intimately to churches or to religious societies, if not actually charitable associations consisting entirely or principally, in each instance, of members of a particular church, the function being parochial in the distribu- tion of alms and the care of the poor.

Several enduring charitable institutions were founded through the initiative of women, and were maintained afterward by organizations of women. A society of women was organ- ized in 1856 for the purpose of promoting a home for aged and homeless women. Temporary quarters were rented immediately ; in 1864 the Home for Aged Women, at East and Tock- wotton Streets in Providence, was opened. The building was enlarged afterward to more than double its original capacity, and the charity continued to flourish as the institution in 1930 approached its seventy-fifth anniversary. Even older was the Providence Shelter for Colored Children, which was promoted so early as 1838 by Mrs. Anna A. Jenkins. Mrs. Jenkins gave the land on which the building, at 20 Olive Street in Providence, was constructed in 1849. The purpose has been to provide a comfortable home for colored orphans who would other- wise be exposed to neglect. Harriet Ware, a public school teacher, led a movement in 1835 which resulted in the organization of the Children's Friend Society. The General Assembly granted a charter in 1836, the purpose of the society being specified as "providing for the support and education of indigent children of both sexes, not otherwise provided for, and also, for want of paternal care, or in a suffering and dangerous condition." The society built a home for children on Tobey Street in Providence in 1861, and maintained it into the twentieth century. The Prisoner's Aid Association, incorporated in 1874, from 1881 maintained the Sophia Little Home, as a temporary refuge providing remunerative work for released women prisoners.

The Ladies' Rhode Island Homeopathic Hospital Aid Association, 1874, opened a dis- pensary in the rear of a drug store on Westminster Street in Providence. The association raised $10,000, was incorporated in 1882, and in 1884 bought the Nichols house on Olney Street, which had cost $100,000 to build, paying $30,000, of which part was raised by mort- gage. The first Homeopathic Hospital was located in the Nichols house. The Montefiore Benevolent Association was founded in 1880 as the Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Association, with the purpose of relieving all persons, of whatever nationality, who are in distress. The Women's Christian Association, organized in March, 1867, was the predecessor of the Young Women's Christian Association, and maintained boarding houses at reasonable rates for women. The Irrepressible Society, 1861, to furnish sewing for needy and deserving women ; the Society for Ministry to the Sick, 1880, and the Rhode Island Exchange for Woman's Work, 1880, furnishing a place for the sale of articles made by women, were other of the

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activities undertaken by women with some leisure in the period in which charity was the prin- cipal work of a public and social nature open to them.

During the Civil War women found abundant demand for public service appealing par- ticularly to them. The Florence Nightingale Association, organized immediately after the attack at Fort Sumter, became the Providence Ladies' Volunteer Relief Association. On government contracts for supplying articles of clothing needed by soldiers it employed 575 women who needed work. The association made, besides, articles for camp and hospital not furnished by the government. Its activities, additional to $5,338.31 collected on contracts, were financed by private contributions amounting to $7,696.06. Of the money received, $7,510.99 was paid to employes, and $5,523.38 for materials and transportation. The association furnished 29,000 garments on contracts, and 19,000 for hospital uses. In 1863 the name was changed to Rhode Island Relief Association, Auxiliary to the Sanitary Commission. Ward relief associations were organized during the Civil War by women in Providence, and other associations of women were busy in every town in Rhode Island in one or another form of relief for soldiers or for women and children left dependent because of the war. The Marine Hospital in Provi- dence was placed by Governor Sprague in charge of a board of managers consisting of women, and was opened for the purpose of furnishing lodging for destitute soldiers passing through the city. A group of doctors gave professional service free to soldiers who were lodged in the hospital temporarily. Besides the women who worked through societies, hundreds of women, alone or in small groups, spared no effort to make the quantities of bandage, lint, stockings, jellies and preserves, and dainty foods of all kinds that were forwarded to soldiers in the field and in hospitals. The women of Rhode Island furnished the cargoes for several relief steamers sent to soldiers in the South.

One of the most important educational institutions in Rhode Island, aside from the general system of public schools, was started through the initiative principally of an auxiliary committee of women appointed to participate in preparation of Rhode Island's exhibit at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876. Known as the Women's Centennial Executive Committee, they published the "Herald" of the Centennial monthly for a year preceding the exposition. After the exposition the women's committee used the balance on hand of a fund raised for exposition purposes as the nucleus of an endowment for Rhode Island School of Design. Women had begun in the second half of the nineteenth century to find places in activities other than the charitable and philanthropic movements which were dominating in and characteristic of the years following immediately upon the opening of what might be called wider interest. The effort to obtain political equality began before the middle of the nine- teenth century.

EQUAL RIGHTS MOVEMENT-Rhode Island was represented in 1848 at the first equal rights convention held in the United States, at Seneca Falls, New York, by Elizabeth Buffum Chace and Paulina Wright Davis. The former, daughter of Arnold and Rebecca Gould Buffum, was born in Rhode Island in 1806. She married Samuel Buffington Chace in 1828. She was interested in various reforms, became a member of the Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in 1835, and because of her solicitude for the welfare of inmates of the state prison, was appointed by the Governor as one of the lady visitors with power to make recommendations. She continued throughout her long life to maintain an interest in woman suffrage, being presi- dent of the Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association from 1870 until her death in 1899 at the age of ninety-two years. Paulina Saxton Kellogg was born August 7, 1813. She married Francis Wright of Utica, New York, and with him was engaged in promoting many reform movements, including arrangements for the anti-slavery convention of 1835 at Petersboro. After her husband's death she lectured for several years on anatomy and physiology to classes of women. She married Thomas Davis of Providence in 1849 and their home, now Davis

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Park in Providence, became a center of gracious hospitality. Mrs. Davis initiated the move- ment that led to the first national woman suffrage convention, and helped to organize the National Woman Suffrage Association, of which she became the first president. The associa- tion met in annual convention at Newport in 1869. Mrs. Davis published in Providence, be- ginning January 1, 1883, "Una," the first woman's rights paper, owned and edited by a woman. The paper was continued for two years. She accompanied her husband to Washington after his election as Representative in Congress.

Twenty years after their first association as delegates to the convention at Seneca Falls Mrs. Chace and Mrs. Davis attended a meeting in Boston to consider the question of organiz- ing a woman suffrage movement, and helped while there to organize the New England Woman Suffrage Association. On their return Mrs. Chace and Mrs. Davis issued a call for a state woman suffrage convention in Rhode Island, which met in Roger Williams Hall in Providence, December 11, 1868. Among those who signed the call for the convention were Rowland S. Hazard of Peace Dale, Sarah Helen Power Whitman, Senator Henry B. Anthony and Mrs. Anthony. The Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association was organized at the convention, and Mrs. Davis became the first president. Mrs. Davis retired from the presidency and was succeeded in 1870 by Mrs. Chace. Mrs. Davis died August 24, 1876, after several years of failing health.

The first work undertaken by the new association was the circulation of a petition for an amendment to the Constitution of Rhode Island granting woman suffrage. Other effort was devoted to movements to secure the appointment of women as jurors, as inspectors of the state prison, as trustees of the reform school, and as overseers of the poor. The General Assembly in 1884, on the motion of Honorable Edward L. Freeman of the House of Repre- sentatives granted the request of Mrs. Chace that the State House be made available for hold- ing a state woman suffrage convention. In December, 1884, four sessions of the convention were held in the House of Representatives, and the meetings were addressed by Susan B. Anthony, Henry B. Blackwell, Frederick Douglas, Mary F. Eastman, William Lloyd Garri- son and Lucy Stone. The chamber was crowded, and many were unable to gain admission. Within two years the General Assembly initiated and proposed an amendment to the Consti- tution granting woman suffrage with the same restrictions then applied to manhood suffrage, but the electors, on April 7, 1886, rejected it, 21,957 to 6889. After eighteen years of inde- fatigable effort the accomplishment might be measured by the conversion of nearly 7000 men. The time was two years before the ratification of the Bourn amendment carrying the first extension of manhood suffrage since the Constitution of 1842. The campaign preceding the plebiscite of 1886 had been vigorous. Meetings had been held in every part of Rhode Island and addressed by able speakers. Printed material was distributed widely, and $7,000 was expended in the endeavor to present the question favorably. Suffrage advocates, including women, appeared at polling places and solicited support. The adverse vote was decisive, and the reverse was depressing, but the movement for woman suffrage was not abated.

Six years later the General Assembly was asked to grant presidential suffrage, which lay within its power without a referendum under the provisions of Article II, section I, paragraph 2, of the Constitution of the United States, "Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors," etc. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 had relegated to the states the question of manhood or woman suffrage in this provision, and in Article I, section 2, which provided: "The House of Representatives shall be com- posed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states; and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature." It was hoped in 1892, since the General Assembly six years earlier had advanced woman suffrage to the status of referring it to the plebiscite, that the

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General Assembly might be persuaded to exercise its own power favorably. The distinction between permitting the voters to decide a question and assuming responsibility for decision appeared immediately. The General Assembly of 1892 was not willing to become responsible for even fractional woman suffrage.

The association's firm purpose of continuing the movement was demonstrated in 1892 by request for a charter of incorporation, which was granted. The charter named Elizabeth Buffum Chace, Anna E. Aldrich, Anna Garlin Spencer, Arnold Buffum Chace, Sarah B. Tillinghast, Anna H. Post, Olney Arnold and Edwin C. Pierce as members of the new cor- poration. Reviewing the status of the movement in 1893, Anna Garlin Spencer said :

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Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. II, Part 87

Author: Carroll, Charles, author Publication date: 1932 Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 716

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716