girlguidetohistory

I just finished a great book based on the lives of  Sarah Grimke and her sister Angelina, and a fictional character Hetty, a young slave, set between 1830 and 1870 in South Carolina.  The title of the book is The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. It’s a piece of  historical fiction about Sarah growing up surrounded by slavery, and Hetty growing up as a slave, and how they both struggle throughout their lives against the injustice of the system. Sarah comes up in several of my blog posts, and is first introduced in a post dated June 30th, 2018. The book is written from the perspective of Sarah as she grows up, and the many struggles she goes through to go against her pro-slavery family, by becoming an abolitionist. It is also written from the perspective of Hetty, her complex relationship with Sarah, and the struggles and pain that Hetty faces as a slave and trying to break free from slavery.What really stuck out to me in the book was the relationship between Hetty  and Sarah. The relationship has many layers and is full of tension. However, despite their many differences, the two manage to create a strong bond.

In 1870, Myra Bradwell was the first woman to argue in court for her right to become a lawyer, she was denied by the Illinois Supreme Court, despite having passed the Bar in that state. The United States Supreme Court heard the case and upheld the Illinois Court’s decision, saying that she was unfit to practice law based on her sex.  Despite initially being denied the right to practice as a lawyer, the fact that she educated herself in the law and passed the Bar meant she broke important barriers. Back in the 1800’s, women rarely got education past elementary school. Bradwell was eventually given a license to practice law, towards the end of her life. However, her license was munc pro tunc, which is latin for “now for then” *. This basically meant that Bradwell was given a license to practice law, but it was not true for women in general.  It wasn’t until the 1920’s that most states allowed women to practice law and even when it became legal for women to practice law they were strongly discriminated against.  Most women weren’t hired, (like RBG), or faced a hostile workplace. Sarah Grimke couldn’t become a lawyer either, and she was denied access to the education which Bradwell was able to get.  Grimke was educated enough though to write and speak out for the Abolition of Slavery and Women’s Rights, and she lived at the same time as Myra Bradwell, so they both broke barriers this way. Ruth Bader Ginsberg carried on their fight, and not only got the education and license to be a lawyer, she went on to become a Judge and a Supreme Court Justice.  People like Myra Bradwell and Sarah Grimke are left out of the History Books, however thanks to women like RBG and others who work for women’s equality, their efforts have made a difference and won’t be forgotten.

*https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/minority-trial-lawyer/practice/2017/myra-bradwell-first-woman-admitted-to-illinois-bar/

 

 

This weekend I saw another movie about Ruth Bader Ginsberg, called “On the Basis of Sex”. The Sarah Grimke quote was used again, the one I mentioned in a post dated December 11th. Sarah Grimke couldn’t become a lawyer in her time, it was difficult even for a woman to speak in public, but RBG could in her time. RBG carried Sarah’s spirit to the supreme court, by quoting her. The fact that in her time Sarah couldn’t even get an education to become a lawyer and then 150 years later, we have women on the Supreme Court is a sign of change in this country.  It wasn’t easy, and many women like Sarah Grimke were mostly forgotten, except by women like RBG who keep up the work for equality.  There were women spies like the Confederate Belle Boyd, women who secretly fought in the Civil War like Cathay Williams who joined the Union army as a Buffalo Soldier.  In addition to women in lots of other roles, some more direct and some indirect, that changed the course of history.  Sarah did see the end of slavery, but she didn’t win the equality that she wanted for women.  She persisted though, she spoke to people and changed history.  Her name may have been forgotten in most history books, but not her efforts and the efforts of all the women who fought and still fight for the equal treatment of women.

About a month ago, I interviewed Dr. Michael Gabriel, a civil war historian, on women’s roles during the civil war. One thing that really stuck out to me in the interview was when Dr. Gabriel spoke of a lesser known role of Confederate women on the home front during the civil war. In the south women had to take over running the whole family life, including plantations and other business.  With the slave labor system falling apart, they could not run plantations and the economy was collapsing .  There were severe shortages of money and even food. This led the southern women to send letters for their husbands and brothers to come home and save their family. These letters were so influential that there was a tremendous increase in desertion rates in the confederate army towards the end of the war. You can find the discussion of this in the audio from my interview, from 7 minutes to 9 minutes and 45 seconds.

CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN

 

Above I have posted the full audio of my interview with Dr. Gabriel , a History Professor at Kutztown University who specializes in Civil War History.  We had a great conversation  for almost an hour about the role of women during the Civil War era.  We spoke about women on both the Confederate and Union sides who were political activists, spies, those who secretly served in battle, nurses and those women who tried to influence the events of the war from their home front.

I watched a documentary a few days ago on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the movie was called RBG. During the movie RBG quotes Sarah Grimke and a letter Sarah sent to Mary S. Parker about women’s equality. This connection, between Grimke and RBG represents the connection between past and present-day feminism. The fact that RBG quotes Sarah Grimke about equal rights for women, after the civil rights moment of the 1960’s , and the suffragist movement before that, it really shows how each female figure in history pushes the boundaries further. It’s a push for the next generation of women to break through those boundaries and look back at how women before them have laid the groundwork.

Last week I interviewed Dr. Michael Gabriel and we had a great conversation.  Dr. Gabriel is a History Professor at Kutztown University specializing in Civil War and Revolutionary War History.  Dr. Gabriel gave me new insight on the Civil War in general, and on different ways that women contributed to the course of events and shaped Civil War history.  Including women from the Confederate and Union sides who fought in the War, those who influenced the course of the War from the home front, and some women involved in acts of espionage.  One example was Belle Boyd, a woman Confederate spy who was caught by the Union army several times but managed each time to avoid prosecution. I will post parts of the interview in different segments, and I will follow up with more posts of some of the women and the history that we discussed.  Thank you so much to Dr. Gabriel for speaking with me.  Also I will be posting more frequently, hopefully one a week so please comment and I am happy to respond.

 

You guys might have noticed that my blog looks a lot more visually appealing. I had a friend help me edit over Thanksgiving. He has a blog too, which he uses to sell his artwork. I’m really new to blogging, and I appreciate his help. Thanks to my loving family for a great Thanksgiving, and especially to Sam, for some extra special help.

 

Sam’s blog – https://www.sam-merrell.com

 

 

 

October 2018 by Bridget Johnson: “It is amazing that Sara at such a young age she new [sic] wrong from right. Also check out this book called Not One Damsel In Distress collected and told by Jane Yolen.”

I agree with you, it really is incredible that Sara grew up surrounded by slavery and yet she was so against it. Her family and community fully supported slavery. Despite this, she held onto her belief that slavery was wrong. I’ll definitely look into the book you mentioned, it sounds great. Every story about women, whether truth or myth, is an important part of history that has been left out.

September 2018 by Jen Forsyth “Too cool! I love learning about history through these posts–looking forward to the next one!”

Thank you so much, I’m working on my post for November. I want to do a post every month, and use my research to publish a piece of historical fiction about some of these amazing women. I appreciate your input.