Women’s History Month—A Photo Essay of Tennessee Women

By Beth Cavanaugh

Every year, the month of March is recognized as “Women’s History Month.” At the Tennessee State Library and Archives, women’s papers including diaries, journals, and letters comprise a significant part of our collections. There are numerous documents relevant to Women’s Studies at the local, state, and national levels which cover subjects such as military, suffrage, journalism, politics, and social life. In 1987, Congress expanded National Women’s History Week to a month, and it has issued a resolution every year since then proclaiming March to be Women’s History Month. While recognition of Women’s History Month is a fairly recent phenomenon, the important historical contributions made by women have been chronicled for many years. Many photos at the Library and Archives tell the story of these contributions and their impact on Tennessee and the world.

Carrie Chapman Catt was a field organizer with Susan B. Anthony, and founded the League of Women Voters. Catt’s leadership was a key factor in Tennessee becoming “The Perfect 36,” the last state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. This undated photograph is by Bachrach Studios and is part of the League of Women Voters of Tennessee Papers, 1920-1989.

Anne Dallas Dudley, a native Nashvillian, was a national and state leader in the fight for women's suffrage who worked tirelessly to secure the ratification of the 19th Amendment in Tennessee. This picture of Dudley reading with her children, Trevania and Guilford, Jr., was used in women's suffrage publicity materials to counter the stereotypes of suffragists as mannish radicals intent on destroying the American family. This undated photo is from the Library Photograph Collection.

Corinne Dodds Sanders was a suffragist, a national leader in the League of Women Voters, and the first woman in the South to vote. She cast her historic ballot in a 1917 municipal election in Lookout Mountain, which had just passed local women's suffrage that year. This photo is from the April 29, 1916 issue of The Lookout, the official publication of the Tennessee Federation of Women's Clubs from the Tennessee Federation of Women's Clubs Records, 1893-1992.

Jeanette Tillotson Acklen marched for suffrage in the Tennessee campaign and was married to U.S. Representative Joseph H. Acklen. In this photo, Acklen holds the banner she marched behind during the Tennessee campaign for women's suffrage. This photo is from the January 18, 1948 issue of the Nashville Tennessean Magazine.

After the United States entered World War II, Jean Anderson joined the Red Cross and served overseas in the Civilian War Relief department. In this photograph, Anderson is wearing her Red Cross uniform and a portion of Oxford University, where she was stationed, can be seen in the background. This photo from February 7, 1944 is from the Sadie Warner Frazer (1885-1974) Papers, 1894-1974.

These four women were the first women stationed at Quantico Marine Base. Lieutenant Abbott, on the left, is pictured handing her orders to Lieutenant Colonel W. P. Kelly as the other three women observe. Mary Washington Frazer is the second woman from the left. During her commission as a Marine officer, Frazer was stationed at Quantico Marine Base as the Assistant Adjutant General. This photo from November 10, 1943 is from the Sadie Warner Frazer (1885-1974) Papers, 1894-1974.

We hope you’ll take this opportunity to visit The Library and Archives’ Public Services Resource Guide #07, “Women’s Studies at the Tennessee State Library and Archives,” on our website for a list of excellent collections relevant to women’s history. We also encourage you to visit us in person or online to learn more.

You can view all of these photos online on the Tennessee Virtual Archive: https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/customizations/global/pages/index.html.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Sgt. Helen Gill Moon, World War II hero...

By Ellen Robison

Photograph of Sgt. Helen Gill Moon. Supplemental materials. World War II Veteran Surveys, RG 237.
Tennessee State Library and Archives

Common belief is that United States women in the military during World War II served in protected positions away from combat. In practice, however, this theory proved difficult to maintain. Sometimes the combat came to the women. The World War II Veteran Survey collection at the Tennessee State Library and Archives contains personal examples of women who were closer to combat than comfort. One of those women was Sgt. Helen Gill Moon, who served with the Women’s Army Corps in England and France.

Page 1, Helen Gill Moon veteran survey. World War II Veteran Surveys, Record Group 237.
Tennessee State Library and Archives

Helen Gill enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps in 1943, after working in a civilian job as a Dictaphone operator and secretary. She likely had no idea at the time of enlistment that she would serve overseas by the end of World War II. When the Women’s Army Corps was created, women were originally limited to positions within the United States and its territories. As the war continued and the need for soldiers grew, many high ranking officers, including General Eisenhower, specifically requested WACs to serve overseas to fill noncombatant positions, allowing men to move to the front lines. Gill rose to the rank of Sergeant working in the Public Relations Office for the U.S. Headquarters in Europe. One of her primary duties in the P. R. O.’s newsroom was taking quotes of bomber pilots returning from their bombing runs. In her survey, Gill recalled hearing these “emotionally affecting” reports as the pilots would relay the casualties sustained as being one of the most vivid experiences of her service.

Page 2-3, Helen Gill Moon veteran survey. World War II Veteran Surveys, Record Group 237.
Tennessee State Library and Archives

Sgt. Gill came even closer to the combat in 1944 when Germany developed the V-1 guided missile, dubbed the “buzz bomb” because of the buzzing noise the bomb made before falling silently to the ground. In her survey, Gill explains that the WACs were required to stand outside in the streets for their daily formations until a buzz bomb injured several women. She recalled watching a department store in London “turn orange and crumble, and be knocked down by the blast” of a German rocket.

WACs were not the only serving women who saw combat. The veteran survey collection is full of stories about nurses who worked in field hospitals in all theaters of operation and in all climates, from deserts to jungles. Some even lived in mud floor tents and sheltered their patients with mattress from strafing gunfire. You can read about their service and many more in the World War II Veteran Survey collection: http://tsla.tnsosfiles.com.s3.amazonaws.com/history/state/recordgroups/findingaids/WORLD_WAR_II_VETERANS_SURVEY_1996.pdf.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Meet the (former) staff... Mrs. John Trotwood Moore

By Darla Brock

I would like to introduce you to a former staff member and a remarkable woman—Mrs. John Trotwood Moore. Mary Daniel Moore took the helm of the Tennessee State Library and Archives following the unexpected May 1929 death of her husband, the noted poet, scholar, historian, and State Librarian and Archivist John Trotwood Moore. She used the knowledge she had garnered from 10 years working alongside her husband to pick up the mantle and guide this institution through the challenging years of the Depression and the Second World War.

Tennessee State Librarian and Archivist Mrs. John Trotwood Moore (Mary Daniel Moore) pictured in 1938.

Left alone to nurture two college-age twin daughters, manage a large household, and care for elderly and ailing family members, every working day Mrs. Moore climbed the one hundred steps to the State Library’s home in the Capitol to undertake her awesome responsibility. She served patrons, historical societies and genealogical associations, the legislature, the judiciary, the governor and state government departments alike. Regardless of the stress involved or the political maneuverings she would have to endure over the course of her career, she remained a devoted state employee.

Mary Brown Daniel in 1888 at the age of thirteen.

Mrs. Moore, with the help of a small and dedicated staff, accomplished mammoth tasks. She utilized TERA (Tennessee Emergency Relief Administration) and WPA (Works Progress Administration) funds to index state records. She held a leadership position in the WPA's Historical Records Survey that preserved county records and so much more. She continued Dr. R.L.C. White's transcription of the Senate and House Journals of Tennessee for the years 1797 and 1798; she indexed them and had them published. This project and the transcribing of Tennessee militia commissions were done on her own time and did irreparable damage to her eyesight. She published scholarly articles about the history of the Tennessee State Library, the Tennessee Historical Society, and the history of libraries in Tennessee. She parlayed her social and professional connections into donations of numerous premier manuscript collections for the state. She served as the custodian of the state's Law Library in the Capitol, and in 1936 oversaw the transfer of 19,000 volumes to the Law Library in the new Supreme Court Building. She procured the first microfilm reader for the State Library and Archives through an exchange with the Genealogical Society of Utah. The Genealogy Department created by John Trotwood Moore flourished under his wife's hand. Authors and researchers from across the country were served on a previously unknown scale, and State Librarian and Archivist Mrs. John Trotwood Moore regularly welcomed busloads of school children to the Capitol and to their State Library.

Mrs. Moore working in her home away from home at the State Library in the Capitol.

But perhaps Mrs. Moore's greatest accomplishment was securing the funding in 1947 for our present State Library and Archives building. Governor Jim McCord proclaimed she “almost dreamed this building into existence.” In reality, Mrs. John Trotwood Moore had carried on the fight for new quarters for the State Library and Archives outside the Capitol Building for many years, as had her husband before her. In late 1946, Mrs. Moore galvanized Tennessee’s women’s organizations, which had long supported her and our institution, to take on this battle. These women had recently labored in support of the war effort, and they now stood shoulder-to-shoulder to fight for us. In December 1946, presidents of women’s statewide organizations came together to campaign for a new State Library and Archives building, as the State Library Building Society. When Governor McCord signed the appropriation bill March 12, 1947, the press gave these ladies credit for obtaining the initial legislative funding.

Mrs. John Trotwood Moore’s true home had been the State Library in the Capitol, a setting she likened to a Victorian parlor. She faced mandatory retirement in 1949. She maintained an emeritus status thereafter and remained a presence in the Capitol’s State Library to assist her successor, historian and Vanderbilt professor Dr. Dan Robison, as he took the reins of the institution. Mrs. Moore watched as Dr. Dan and architect H. Clinton Parrent designed our present facility, state-of-the-art for its time.

She submitted her official letter of resignation June 4, 1953. She wrote Dr. Dan, “The last load of books will be sent to the new State Library and Archives building today or tomorrow. I feel that my services should end with the closing of these doors.” A lovely little office was created for her in this building, but ill-health meant she seldom used it. Around this time, she wrote to a researcher, “I think it is time for the old lady of 79 to fade out of the picture.” But her heart remained with us until her death in August 1957. After that, not only the official papers of State Librarians and Archivists Mr. and Mrs. Moore took up residence here, but the family’s personal papers, as well.

It is hard to believe that one woman, one family, could have given so much, but their belief in the importance of the Tennessee State Library and Archives never wavered. For almost 18 years, I have searched her portrait for strength, inspiration and direction; I have researched her collections for wisdom and marveled at her legacy. Having been made an honorary member of the Moore family by her gracious descendants, I feel I can hazard a guess at her message for us today. To the staff, Mrs. John Trotwood Moore would say, “Serve this great state with all your abilities, and love your institution with all your heart.” To our patrons, she would repeat one of her favorite sayings, “The State Library is a library by the people, for the people.”

Portrait of Mrs. John Trotwood Moore painted by R. Gregory Gifford in 1946.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Nannie Hereford: Missionary and Prisoner of War

By Ellen Robison

The Tennessee State Library & Archives’ collection of Tennessee newspapers on microfilm is an excellent source for researchers to get an overview of events in Tennessee history. Among the stories found within these records is that of Nannie Hereford, a former missionary in Japan who was held as a prisoner of war in the Philippines during World War II. She later returned to Japan to work for 33 more years serving the people by whom she was held hostage.

Nashville Tennessean article, dated May 3, 1945, entitled “Local Woman, Free of Japs, Returns to U. S.”

Hereford was born in 1908, in Osaka, Japan to Presbyterian missionaries, Dr. and Mrs. W. F. Hereford of Lebanon, Tennessee. She grew up in Hiroshima, Japan, but returned to Tennessee during her high school and college years. In 1932, she followed in her parents’ footsteps and accepted her own appointment for missionary work in Japan. There she worked as a teacher in Hokkaido until 1941, when tensions between Japan and the United States forced her to transfer to the Philippines. She was still working there when war broke out in the Pacific.

Nashville Tennessean article, dated April 11, 1942, entitled, “25 More State Servicemen, Civilians Believed in Philippines.” Pages 1 and 2.

An article on the April 11, 1942, front page of the Nashville Tennessean reported that 25 more individuals were added to the list of Tennesseans last known to be in the Philippines when the Japanese took control of the islands, bringing the total to 55. Among these was Hereford. Those who remained in the Philippines were taken as prisoners by the Japanese. In March of 1943, the prisoners were transferred to Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila, which held more than 4,000 civilians from several countries. Additionally, more than 60 U. S. Army nurses were also interned at Santo Tomas. In July of 1944, The Nashville Tennessean reported that Hereford’s parents had received a cablegram from her, which read: “Family welfare? Disappointed no recent mail. Nt [No] loss weight during internment. Love, Nannie Hereford.”

Nashville Tennessean article, dated July 21, 1944, entitled “Daughter Writes Parents From Jap Prison Camp.”

On Feb. 3, 1945, American troops liberated Santo Tomas Internment Camp during the month-long battle for the city of Manila. In an interview decades later, Hereford recounted that the camp was caught in the middle of the battle for about a week. At one point, she took shelter in her cooking shed, putting her cooking pan over her head. Upon emerging, she found a piece of shrapnel that had fallen on the counter quite close to where she had been. In late February of 1945, the Nashville Tennessean reported that the Hereford's family received a telegram from the war department informing them that she had been among the survivors of the camp and was in good health. She returned to the United States in May of that same year and was in Lebanon with her family when the U. S. dropped the first atomic bomb that decimated her childhood home of Hiroshima.

Nashville Tennessean article, dated Feb. 25, 1945, entitled “State Woman Freed From Manila Prison.”

Only a year passed before Hereford returned to the Philippines to continue her mission work. Several years later, she transferred back to Japan where she worked until her retirement in 1973. After retirement, Hereford kept herself busy by volunteering with various organizations including the Nashville Peace Links, where she worked as an anti-nuclear activist, and the Nashville Crisis Center, where she served as a telephone helpline operator. She was a chairperson of the legislative committee for the American Association of University Women, where she worked on important issues such as food taxation.

Tennessean article, dated May 19, 1985, entitled “77-Year-Old Promotes Peace.”

In 1985, Nashville Peace Links awarded to Hereford its annual Peace Award for her activism against nuclear weapons. In an interview with the Nashville Tennessean, she said that she had visited Hiroshima after World War II and toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The article quoted her as saying: “I’ve seen the museum with their horrid pictures… I don’t believe in more and more munitions. If you prepare for war, you’ll use it.”

Until her death in 1999, Hereford continued to speak out to support peace - in hopes for a world with “No more Hiroshimas, ever.”

"If you prepare for war, you'll use it." -- Nannie Hereford

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

LBPH honors Women's History Month

By Ruth Hemphill

The National Women’s History Project designates March as Women’s History Month. Once treated as second class citizens, women are now widely recognized for their contributions to the advancement of civilization. Joining in this annual recognition, the Tennessee Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped (TLBPH) is pleased to offer these audio titles recommended by the National Women’s History Museum as a tribute to the accomplishments of women throughout history:

Hedy’s Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, by Richard Rhodes. Best as a Hollywood movie star, Lamarr was also an inventor who worked with avant garde composer George Antheil to invent spread-spectrum radio, the technology behind wireless phones and GPS devices.

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War, by Karen Abbott. This book profiles the contributions of four women living during the Civil War - two supporting the Union side and two supporting the Confederate side - who made secret contributions to their chosen causes. The featured women are: Elizabeth Van Lew, a southern lady who was an abolitionist and spy for the Union cause; Rosie O’Neal Greenhow, a well-known Washington, D.C. socialite and spy for the Confederacy; Emma Edmonds, a native Canadian who dressed as a man and enlisted in the Union Army as Frank Thompson; and Belle Boyd, known as “Cleopatra of the Secession.”

Martha Washington: An American Life, by Patricia Brady is a biography of the wealthy widow and plantation owner, Martha “Patsy” Custis, who married the young soldier in the colonial British forces and Virginia plantation owner who eventually became the first president of the United States. Martha Washington’s wealth from her first marriage enabled her husband to greatly enlarge his Mount Vernon estate. Martha Washington managed Mount Vernon as well as the five plantations she brought to the marriage for her husband during his many absences from home, first as commander of the Continental army and then as president.

Book discussion questions for these three titles are available on the National Women’s History Museum’s website: https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/resources/book-discussions

These titles and others about famous women and their contributions to history are also available from public libraries across the state of Tennessee. TLBPH is a division of the Tennessee State Library & Archives, which is part of Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office. For more information about TLBPH, see http://www.sos.tn.gov/tsla/lbph.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

Recommended Women's History Month Reading from the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

March is Women’s History Month, a commemoration which began as International Working Women’s Day in 1911. It was expanded to Women’s History Week in 1980 via presidential proclamation and then to Women’s History Month in 1987 by a joint resolution of Congress.

Women's History Month recognizes the contributions of women in many economic, cultural and social roles. Women have been productive members of the labor force, active in charitable philanthropic and cultural institutions and leaders in the drives for major social changes.

Some books recognizing the roles of women that are available from the Tennessee Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped (TLBPH) include:

Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels (and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull, contains biographical sketches of 20 powerful women. Some are familiar names like Cleopatra and Eleanor Roosevelt. Others are less well-known individuals such as Rigoberta Menchu, who fought for the rights of native people in Guatemala; Nzingha, the warrior queen of Matamba; and Angola, who negotiated with the Portuguese in the 1500s to keep peace and power for the Mbundu. Written for grades 4 through 8, this book is available in both audio and braille formats.

Bad Girls of the Bible, and What We Can Learn From Them, by Liz Curtis Higgs, is a humorous fictional retelling of the stories of 10 Biblical women, including Eve, Delilah, Jezebel, and the woman at the well. It is available in audio and large print formats.

And no library collection would be complete without Helen Keller’s The Story of My Life, which TLBPH has available in audio, braille, and large print formats. TLBPH also has a newer book, Helen Keller in Love by Rosie Sultan, a fictionalized account of the love affair between Helen and her private secretary, Peter Fagan. This title is available from TLBPH in braille.

For more information on TLBPH, go to: http://sos.tn.gov/tsla/lbph.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

Remarkable Women of Tennessee

We all know Tennessee is a great state, so it might not come as a surprise that Tennessee has produced some remarkable women over the years. In honor of National Women’s Month, we celebrate these Tennessee natives. From nurses to authors to activists to artists, these women faced hardships, segregation and discrimination, yet they overcame each obstacle and stuck by their beliefs and their ethics.

Mary Church Terrell. Library Photograph Collection.

Mary Church Terrell of Memphis became one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree and was an activist for civil rights and suffrage.

Wilma Rudolph of Clarksville was known as the fastest woman in the world and competed in two Olympic Games. Prior to the 1960 Olympic Games, where Rudolph won three gold medals, her coach Ed Temple described her as a good but not great athlete.

"Wilma really hit her peak in 1960," Temple said in an interview for the Tri-Star Chronicles, the Library & Archives' online gallery of prominent Tennesseans. "Up until that time, I had three or four girls on the team who were better than her." (Read more about what Temple had to say at: http://www.sos.tn.gov/tsla/tri-star-chronicles-ed-temple)

Mary Murfree. Library Photograph Collection.

Mary Noailles Murfree of Murfreesboro was a fiction writer of Appalachian literature during a time when it was not considered socially acceptable for women to be writers.

Rhea Seddon. Tri-Star Chronicles. Image courtesy of Rhea Seddon, from her book, "Go for Orbit."

And Rhea Seddon, also of Murfreesboro, was one of the first of six women to enter NASA’s astronaut program. She was inducted in the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2015. Rhea Seddon was one of several prominent Tennesseans we profiled in the Library & Archives Tri-Star Chronicles project.

One common theme that all of these women can teach us is that with strength, determination and the desire to reach beyond boundaries, you can accomplish great things. Here at the Library & Archives, we invite you to come and learn more about these women, as well as the hundreds of others we feature in our collections. Come be inspired while we celebrate our native female heroes!

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

Soaring in the Service: The Life of Cornelia Fort

The Tennessee State Library and Archives values the many women who have impacted Tennessee history. During Women’s History Month we pause to remember a bold and brave woman named Cornelia Fort. Fort made the ultimate sacrifice for her country as the first female pilot from the United States to die during active military duty.

Fort showed interest in aviation at an early age. Her father, Dr. Rufus Fort, was a prominent businessman and physician in Nashville. Dr. Fort did not approve of the risky sport, and in 1924, he made his sons swear they would not become pilots. However, Cornelia, five years old at the time, did not take the same oath. After her father passed away when she was 21 years old, she began taking flying lessons regularly. Cornelia became instantly enamored. Within a matter of weeks, she made her first solo flight. She took her passion for flying and transformed it into a career. Once Cornelia obtained the required number of flight hours, she began teaching others how to navigate the sky, which eventually led to her moving to Hawaii.

Cornelia Fort, early Tennessee aviator present at the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Image from Record Group 238, Tennessee Blue Book, 1995-1996, Bicentennial Edition
Tennessee State Library and Archives
Published in Rob Simbeck's book, Daughter of the Air.

Cornelia wanted to make a difference, and saw an opportunity to do so by contributing to the country’s need for trained pilots. In 1941, the Andrew Flying Service in Honolulu recruited her to teach sailors and factory workers how to fly. During one of those training sessions, Cornelia took the controls from one of her students to narrowly avoid colliding with a military plane. At that moment, she saw the Japanese emblem painted onto the top of the wings. Cornelia was one of the first pilots to witness the incoming planes that attacked Pearl Harbor. As she landed the plane, bullets narrowly missed Cornelia and her student as they both sprinted toward cover. Miraculously, both walked away from the ordeal without injury, but two of her fellow pilots were killed on that day of infamy.

After she left Hawaii, Cornelia’s options for work were limited. She resorted to teaching Civilian Pilot Training programs. However, she still longed to serve her country. In September, when she received a telegram asking her to join what would later be known as the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), Cornelia enthusiastically traveled to the New Castle Army Air Force Base in Wilmington, Delaware. Although WASP would not be recognized as an official military unit until 1977, it provided an important service.

Cornelia Fort
Library Collection
Tennessee State Library and Archives

Cornelia Fort lost her life during her delivery of a BT-13 to Love Field in Dallas. The wing of her plane clipped another pilot’s landing gear resulting in Cornelia losing control and violently crashing into the terrain below. She most likely died instantly. At 24 years of age, Cornelia achieved what she set out to do in life. In an article that she submitted to several newspapers shortly before her accident, she stated, “I, for one, am profoundly grateful hat my one talent, my only knowledge, flying, happens to be of use to my country when it is needed. That’s all the luck I ever hope to have.” Despite the public sentiment against women joining the military efforts of World War II, Cornelia followed her passion and served her country.

If you are interested in learning more about Cornelia Fort and other female pioneers in American aviation history, read about them in TSLA’s collection. A good place to start is with, Daughter of the Air, by Rob Simbeck, They Also Flew: Women Aviators in Tennessee, 1922-1950, by Janene G. Leonhirth, and United States Women in Aviation, 1930-1939, by Claudia M. Oakes. You can look up these books and many more through our online catalog at: http://www1.youseemore.com/tsla/.

Established in 1944, the Cornelia Fort Airpark was named in her memory. In 2011, it was sold and re-purposed as a green space for Shelby Park. Cornelia’s story lives on through the historical marker in the park that bares a short biography of her life.
Image from Record Group 33: Tennessee Aeronautics Commission Records, 1939-1953
Tennessee State Library and Archives

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.

Women's History Month at TSLA...

It's the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, a perfect opportunity for commemorating all aspects of a period that is central to American history, and because March is Women's History Month, the Tennessee State Library and Archives will be highlighting the stories of women from our new collection Women in the Civil War.

Some have argued that women's experiences during this time are perhaps even more varied than those of the men who served on the front lines. Women of all classes experienced the war in some way, whether through deprivation, loss of loved ones, disintegration of social norms, or, in at least a few hundred documented cases, actual battlefield experience.

This is a carte de visite of Confederate spy Belle Boyd (1844-1900). She was a Confederate spy who operated from her father's hotel in Front Royal, Virginia. In one instance, she provided valuable information to General Stonewall Jackson during his attack on Union troops in Front Royal. She was arrested several times. She made her way to England in 1864 and returned to the U. S. in 1866. Women in the Civil War Collection. TSLA

The curiosity of women serving on Civil War battlefields has attracted some attention from historians, and the women featured in this collection each contributed to the Union or Confederacy in her own unique fashion. This war fought principally on Southern soil brought out the ingenuity and resourcefulness, as well as the observant eye, of the region’s female population. The “Women in the Civil War” digital collection showcases female participation in the war, revealing that women experienced the crisis just as actively as their sons, husbands, and fathers.

During Women's History Month, be sure to visit the Women in the Civil War online exhibit, and "like" our Facebook page for updates throughout the month featuring content from this fascinating collection.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.

March is Women's History Month

The month of March is recognized annually as “Women’s History Month.” At the Tennessee State Library and Archives, women’s papers — diaries, journals, and letters — comprise a significant part of our collections. Here one can find a myriad of documents relevant to Women’s Studies at the local, state and national level: the Civil War, slavery, suffrage, journalism, politics, world wars, and social life are well represented in the holdings.

In 1981, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution establishing National Women’s History Week. The week was chosen to coincide with the annual International Women’s Day, March 8. In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month; it has issued a resolution every year since then proclaiming March to be Women’s History Month. While recognition of “Women’s History Month” is a fairly recent phenomenon, important historical contributions made by women have been chronicled for many years.

One significant collection among our many holdings chronicling women’s history is the Carrie Chapman Catt Papers. Carrie Chapman Catt was a field organizer with Susan B. Anthony, and founded the League of Women Voters. Catt’s leadership was a key factor in Tennessee becoming “The Perfect 36,” the last state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. The Catt Papers represents TSLA’s principal collection of pro-suffrage materials. They contain correspondence (especially telegrams) from women’s clubs and national figures, newspaper clippings, and a major selection of political cartoons. Students of women’s history will find these papers essential for their studies.

Votes for Women, no date, Carrie Chapman Catt Photographs. Reproduction of image from the Carrie Chapman Catt Papers at Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, PA. Used by permission.

Providing balance to the Catt Papers are the Josephine A. Pearson Papers. Miss Pearson, a Tennessee native, lobbied vigorously against the amendment that would give American women the right to vote. Miss Pearson’s leadership was critical to the cause, and the Tennessee General Assembly ratified the 19th Amendment by only one vote. For the anti-suffrage point of view these papers are invaluable.

Women’s suffrage was not the only national movement in which women played a significant role. Women were heavily involved in the Temperance Movement and Prohibition in the late-19^th and early 20^th century. At first, the women’s suffrage and Prohibition movements attracted many of the same people, though by the 1910s they had split over philosophical outlooks. This image of Martin College students rallying in Pulaski, Tennessee from TSLA’s Looking Back At Tennessee Collection is a perfect visual illustration of this combination of protest movements. 

Boys, Decide between us and booze, ca. 1910, Looking Back At Tennessee Collection.

We hope you’ll take this opportunity to visit TSLA’s Public Services Resource Guide #07, “Women’s Studies at the Tennessee State Library and Archives,” on our website for a complete list of collections relevant to this subject. You can also learn more by visiting TSLA’s online exhibit, “’Remember the Ladies!’: Women Struggle for an Equal Voice,” which will provide you with a better understanding of Tennessee’s significant role during the campaign to ratify the 19th Amendment. Also, look for news about an upcoming exhibit at TSLA about Prohibition and the Temperance Movement in the coming weeks.

These are just a few samples from the collections of the Tennessee State Library and Archives that describe the important role that women have had in our state’s history. We encourage you to visit us in person or online to learn more, and stay in touch with us through our Facebook, blog, and Flickr sites for more information and updates.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.