The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1891-04-18
Our 0lio.
WOMEN OF THE SOUTH.

Joel Chandler Harris in Philadelphia Press.
There are three pieces of fiction tina
have had long and popular run in wha
NAV be described in large way as tn,
North American mind. One is that thu
stage representations Of negro character
are true to life, another is that the poo
white trash of the South are utterly worth
less and thriftless, and the other is that
the white women of the South lived in 8
state of idleness during the days of slavery
swinging and languishing in hammocks
while bevies of pickaninnies cooled TIL
tropical air with long handled fans mad,
of peacocks' tails.
Preposterous as they are, age has mad'
these fctions respectable, especially in thu
North. They strut about in good com
pany. and sometimes a sober historian goe
so far as to employ them for the purpose
of bolstering up his sectional theories, or
what is still worse, his prejudices. | dc
not know that these fctions are important
or that they are even interesting. If there
was an explosion every time Truth wa!
outrun by his notorious competitor, the
man who sleeps late of Il morning woulc
wake with a snort and imagine that the
universe was the victim of fierce anc
prolonged bombardment.
The busiest women the world has evel
seen were the wives and daughters Of thu
southern planters during the days o
slavery. They we're busy from morning
until night, and sometimes far into the
night They were practically at the head
of the commissary and sanitary depart
ments of the plantation. 1t was part o.
their duty to see that the negroes wert
properly fed, clothed, and shod. They
did not, it is true, go into the market ant
purchase the supplies; that was matter
that could be attended to even by dull
witted man; but, after the supplies were
bought, it was the woman's intelligent
management that caused them to be prop.
erly distributed. | have never yet hearC
of southern woman who surrendered Tho
KEYS of her smoke house and store room tC
an overseer.
The distribution of the supplies, how
ever, was a comparatively small item
Take, for example, the clothing provided
for say 100 negroes male and female
large and small. The cloth was bought
in bolts, though occasionally considerable
portion was woven on the plantation on the
old fashioned hand looms. Whether
bought or woven the cloth had to be cut
out and made into garments. Who was to
superintend and see to all this if not 9
woman? Who was at the head of the
domestic establishment? There were
seamstresses to make up the clothes, but
all the details and preparations had to be
looked after by the mistress, and it often.
times fell to her lot to 90 down on hel
knees on the floor and cut out garments
for hours at a time.
And then there was the health of the
Negroes very important item where q
twenty year old field hand was worth
fifteen hundred dollars in gold. Who wa,
to look after the sick when, as frequently
happened, the physician was miles away
Who, indeed if not the mistress? 1t was
natural, therefore not only natural
but absolutely necessary-that part Of
the store room should be an apothecary's
shop on a small scale, and that the south.
ern women should know what to prescribe
in all the simpler forms of disease.
1t is to be borne in mind that when the
negroes came in from their work the plan
tation became domestic establishment
and its demands were such that it was ne.
cessary for woman to be at the head of it
On the energy, the industry, and the apt
management of the mistress the success
of the plantation depended to great extent
1t was not often these qualities were lack
ing, either, for they were absolutely essen
tial to the success, the comfort and the
moral discipline of the establishment.
Then there was the kitchen. No south
ern woman could afford 10 turn that i'm
portant department over to a negro cook
Such 4 thing was not to be thought of
The mistress of the plantation was alsC
mistress of the kitchen. In order to teacl
their negroes the art of cooking the south
ern women had to know how to cook them
selves, and they We're compelled to gaiI
their knowledge from practical experience
for the kitchen is one Of the places wher,
| DC lIeTc an
negro women still living who got thei
training in the plantation kitchen undel
the eyes of their mistresses, and their cook
ing is spur to the appetite and remedy
for indigestion. 1t is no wonder that ;
Georgia woman when she heard the negroes
were really free gave sigh Of relief ant
exclaimed: ''Thank Heaven l shall hav,
to work for them no more"
The southern women were the outgrowtl
of the plantation system, the result of si'
or seven generations Of Development On
that system they placed the impress o
their humanity and refinement, and tn,
outcome of it is to be seen in the condition
Of the negro race today. In the sphere o
their homes and in their social relations
they exercised a power and an inhuenc'
that has no parallel in history. As the
were themselves so they trained theil
daughters to be be, and the southern womeI
of today still possess the characteristic
that made their mothers and their grand
mothers beautiful and gracious-the re
inement that built up rare civilization
among unpromising surroundings = til,
energy and patience and gentleness tina
wrought order and discipline on the plan
tations.
As the vine was, so must the fruit be
have tried to describe the mistress of thu
plantation for the reason that her character
istics and tendencies have been transmitted
to the southern woman of this generation
and to the young girls who are growing
into womanhood 1t is inevitable, however
that certain of these characteristics should
be modified or amplifed according as the