Evolving Roles at the Turn of the Century
Life for most Texas women during the 19th century was physically challenging, often isolating, and limited by social conventions and the lack of many legal rights. The role of women was primarily to raise children and maintain the home—work that involved sewing, cooking, tending to animals, gardening and a host of tasks that occupied most of the day. Many women were enslaved during this time; they worked in fields performing manual labor, often with the expectation that they would cook and clean upon returning to their quarters.
The Civil War (1861-1865) marked a growing transformation in women’s private and public life. Some women supported military efforts and organized clubs to work together. When the war ended, the goals of these groups evolved. Despite the growing solidarity of women’s groups, African American women faced particular challenges. While they became free citizens after emancipation from slavery, continued racial segregation in the state meant the fight for equality would be an especially difficult one.
At the turn of the 20th century, Texas women began advocating for social welfare issues that brought concerns of the home into the public arena. Topics related to children and their health and education were particularly important. They also focused their attention on the negative effects of alcohol on the family and community. Groups organized through churches and religious connections that were segregated across race and class.
Women’s clubs would become essential in the fight for the right to vote. White middle-class women in the emerging cities began forming study clubs that focused on a wide range of cultural topics, from Shakespeare to symphonies, and led into the progressive political movements addressing topics like child labor laws. In segregated Texas, African American women formed separate clubs with a more activist agenda, advocating for social change. Tejanas were generally not a part of the large urban middle class and did not have sufficient leisure time to devote to clubs. They gained organizational and leadership skills through mutualistas (mutual aid societies) that assisted with the financial, educational, health and other needs of Mexican American communities.
Exhibit Items
Fluting iron, 1870-1890. Artifacts collection, Artifact ATF0031a.
Fluting irons were used to flute ruffles on textile items like petticoats, dresses and curtains. Household laundry and other domestic responsibilities were a major part of the daily life of most women in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
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Thimble used in making the Troutman flag, 1835. Artifacts collection, Artifact ATF0380.
In 1835, 17-year-old Joanna Troutman used this thimble to sew a battle flag featuring the iconic lone star of Texas out of her silk skirts. She presented the flag to Col. William Ward’s Georgia Battalion as they marched to aid in the fight for Texas independence.
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Transcript for Brithania W. Camp v. Isaiah M. Camp, case file M-2793, 1857. Page 1, Page 2, Page 3. M case files, Texas Supreme Court records, Box 201-4035.
Originally filed in Harris County District Court, this petition for divorce cites the husband’s excessive drinking and inability to provide for his wife and two children as the cause. The negative impact of alcohol on family and society would become a central concern for the women’s movement.
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Note from heirs of Lorenzo de Zavala, file 30280, 1858. Texas General Land Office incoming correspondence, Box 2015/180-073.
Born in Yucatán, the diplomat Lorenzo de Zavala became the first vice president of the Republic of Texas. This document signed by his widow Emily Hand and their sons relates to a patent for six labors of land issued to de Zavala's heirs. Some women enjoyed greater property rights under Republic of Texas and Texas state laws than in the Eastern United States, as legislation was influenced by the Mexican and Spanish traditions rather than English common law. An 1840 Texas statute gave women the right to their own separate property, for example, but their husbands still controlled the dealings with the property. Click or tap on thumbnail for larger image.
Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker, undated. William Deming Hornaday photograph collection, Image 1975/70-3741, and Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker residence, Austin, Texas, undated. William Deming Hornaday photograph collection, Image 1975/70-3736.
Anna J. Pennybacker (1861-1938) was a respected educator, writer, public speaker and president of the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs from 1901 to 1903. Texas women’s clubs promoted health, education, the establishment of public libraries, coordinated traveling art galleries and held philosophical, literary and political discussions. Click or tap on thumbnails for larger images.
M. Eleanor Brackenridge to J.T. Brackenridge, 1903. John Thomas Brackenridge papers, Box 2-23/652.
Mary Eleanor Brackenridge was known for her involvement in women’s clubs in Texas and advocacy for issues such as women’s suffrage and prohibition. She helped establish the Woman’s Club of San Antonio in 1898 and was elected president of the San Antonio Equal Franchise Society in 1912. Brackenridge worked to reorganize the Texas Woman Suffrage Association in 1913.
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Membership cards to the American Woman Suffrage Association and Texas Equal Rights Association, 1888-1889, 1895. Erminia Thompson Folsom papers, Box 1985/119-1.
These two membership cards show Mariana T. Folsom’s participation in prominent woman’s suffrage organizations. She and her daughter, Erminia T. Folsom, worked for women’s suffrage and temperance both in Texas and nationally. The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) and the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) merged in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Mariana Folsom advocated for a Texas affiliate to AWSA, which eventually formed in Galveston in 1893 as the Texas Equal Rights Association. Click or tap on thumbnails for larger images.
Woman and child on farm, undated. A. Garland Adair collection, Image 1963/283-55.
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“Will Texas Do Better by its Married Women?”, 1912. Erminia Thompson Folsom papers, Box 1985/119-2.
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