The Weekly Tallahasseean., 1901-01-24
Progress OF the Nineteenth Century
Woman


Woman.
One hundred years ago woman
was not factor in religious, indas-
tFlal, commercial or political lifeito
oe considered. At the beginning of
the nineteenth century she hadEno
legal rights that man was bound to
respect. She belonged body and
soul to some man. She did not own
the clothes she wore, even if she
had earned the money with which
to purchase them. She had no legal
control over her own person, earn
lngs Or children.
Women were shut out of the
schools and colleges, the trades and
professions and all offices under the
government; paid the most meagre
wages IN the few occupations open
to them, ane denied everywhere the
necessary opportunities for their
best development. Worse still,
women had no proper appreciation
OF themselves as factors in civiliza-
ton, and the few noble souls who
were possessed with a prophetic
VISION of what the future held in
store for women, were met on all
sides with ridicule and contempt.
Believing self-denial to be higher
virtue than self-development, women
lgnOranuy made ladders of them
selves by which fathers, brothers and
sons reached their highest ambitions,
creating an impossible gulf between
them. Nothing was more common
than to see the SONS of a family edu-
Gated while the daughters remained
ignorant.
Dr. Gregory, who was standard
authority upon female propriety in
the 18th century, in his work entitled
'Legacy to my Daughter" says:
~ShOuld you be so unfortunate as
to possess a robust constitution by
nature, assimilate such sickIy deli
cacy as is necessary to keep up the
proper female charm" He eau
toned all women to carefully hide
any good sense or learning they
might possess as men looked with
malignant eye upon women of sense
or learning.
For over one hundred years after
public schools were established in
Massachusetts, girls were not allowed
to attend and when the effort was
made on the part of one of the trus-
tees of Hatfield school to admit girls,
the chairman sprang to his feet, ex-
claiming, "What! She's in Hatfield
school? No, never!"
AS late as 1917, when Lucy Stone
graduated from Oberlin College, the
first college to open its doors to wo-
men, they would not allow her TO
read her graduating essay, but said
some professor would have to read it
for her as it would not be proper for
a woman to read in publ Q. Nearly
forty years after, when Oberlin ceIe-
brated her semi-centennial, Lucy
Stone was invited to be one of the
speakers at that great gathering. At
one time when minister was asked
to give notice that a woman would
speak in the town he announced that
a woman would attempt to crow like
cock,
To-day two-thirds of the colleges
and universities of the United States,
including every State University
west of Ohio, are open alike to hen
and women. Thousands of woSlen
are college graduates; hundreds sare
regularly ordained ministers; scs sres
are practicing lawyers. WomenEare
engaged in great variety of tr$des
and professions which require Skill
and intelligence. They have secured
the right Of public speech. II hey
are potent factors in literature. They
are writers for the press, editors hnd
reporters for the newspapers. Se{en-
elghts of all our teachers are wor6en.
They are organized in cluL be; ter
still, they unite with men in many
associations, literary, artistic, reform
atory, social and political. They
play golf and ride the bicycle.
This progress has come because
women of larger mold, loftier am
bitions and nobler self-respect than
the average have been willing to face