The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1905-12-14
a Plea Tor the Mountain Girl.

I
careful esearch into the annals Of
revolutionary history. demonstrated
10 the public through the columns of
the Citizen the ancestry of the noun
taineers. As one who has associated
long time with the people of the
hill country and for the benefit of the
large number of mountain students
who will attend Berea College during
I the Niater term, | wish to eXonerate
them from an unfair aud biased al
legation.
Some time since a statement under
the following caption; Solution OF
the Servant Problem was circulated
in a certain periodical, the substance
Of the article reading thus: Noun
tain girls who receive training in
Berea College make excellent SER
wants in the wealthy homes Of the
/ North, etc. etc.
For the past ten years Berea has
been the Mecca of the young people
of Eastern Kentucky because it is
accessible t. those comparatively
without means. Its philanthropic
aud evangelical influence has sent
light and inspiration into hundreds
Of homes. as "A city that is set on a
hill" And il is due to the philan-
thropy of this institution that the
mountain girls and boys often find
homes among the wealthy for a time
in order that they may obtain means
to push on through college. But
God forbid that the mantle of servi.
tude, falling from the shoulders Of
the emancipated freedmen, should
descend permanently as sable pail
upon the unsophisticated mountain
girl. God forbid that her real merit
should be hidden for an instant
under she bushel of such an un-
pardonable error.
Upon the sea of connection, where
so many false theories are ahoat, let
us gather up the hotsam and ietsam
Of truth, the things most easily
realized and understood Mountain
life tends to make men narrow. Like
the toad in the tree, we unconscious.
" become part Of our surroundings.
This is a law Of nature and cannot be
repealed by an act of Congress,
though fortunately it can be modified
by change and travel Alas, but few
have the opportunity to travel. In
many hundreds Of isolated homes the
early morning, midday, and evening
work must 90 on. Even school days
are so generally interrupted by
tasks as 10 preclude the JOY Of an
education. II often occurs that the
eldest Of large family is a girl. II
so. her life is one of service. She
must forego many pleasures to keep
the machinery Of the home going.
She takes the place in love and is
following the line of her hearts
hottest instincts, for deep devotion
and reyerential love are the charac.
teristics of the mountain girls. The
proof of this is the quiet, loving ser
vice rendered uncomplainingly day
after day. But the fact that the
mountain girl serves her own willing
ly and lovingly is no reason why she
should be looked upon as the source
of service TO those who will con
slider her only servant
Now as TO the possibilities of the
mountain girl. II the standard Of
the women of the mountains is to be
raised, they must have larger OPP
portunities for mental and spiritual
development. Hitherto they have
been taught falsely that all wealth
must be acquired by manual labor
and the most rigid economy. They
have been taught that man is prac-
tically a thief who earns more than
daily wages, and that capitalist is
the natural foe of the laborer. Now
no woman should drudge but all
should labor with discretion as ply
sically able Farm labor for woman
is treadmll The eternal climb
must be kept up, but the altitude
never heightens. For more than a
half century hundreds Of women
whom | know in the mountains have
spent their lives in washing, ironing,
baking, scrubbing, churning hoeing,
yes, aud sometimes blowing in the
fields. Their toilsome, dresry life
has been unrelieyed by any incident
or byplsy, even by a. visit to town.
A narrow igDoramus long age said,
The home is womans sphere.
Women should cook and gossip. rock
cradles and darn socks. only this
and nothing more" But civilization
says, Women should watch and
work in all things that shape and
mould the home, whether it be
money, lands, politics, or schools.
Fortunately the school has at least
- Il Al.