In Fall 2019, Archives, Special Collections, & Community (ASCC) had the privilege of working with Dr. Rose Stremlau’s “HIS 306: Women and Gender in U.S. History to 1870” course. Over the course of a semester, students researched the history of women and gender in the greater Davidson, North Carolina area using materials in the Davidson College Archives and other local organizations. The following series of blog posts highlights aspects of their research process.
Gretchen is a Junior History Major and Communications Minor from Chicago, Illinois.
Religion played a central role in the formation of social boundaries at Davidson College. Female members of the Davidson College Presbyterian Church occupied distinct roles: leading Sunday school, supporting husbands, attracting new members or nurturing the current ones, and most importantly, running women’s prayer meetings and church organizations.1 In August 1885, 18 women of the Davidson College Presbyterian Church met to establish the Ladies Missionary Society. Although The Missionary Society provided women more agency within the church and represented progress for females in general, it limited its admission to wealthy white females.
The image above, found in the Davidson College Archives, is just one of many minutes from the minute book of the Ladies Missionary Society. All of the meetings took place in the Church, once a month, at the time designated by the members. Mary Lafferty, secretary and treasurer of the society, provides a description of the formation of the society as well as a detailed account of the first meeting. The first paragraph begins by addressing the change from The Ladies Benevolent Society to The Ladies Missionary Society and then shifts to discuss the election of leaders within the society – the ladies of the society elected Mrs. Dupuy as president and Mrs. Knox as vice president.
The second paragraph describes what occurred in the first meeting: Mrs. Dupuy read a psalm and offered a prayer, Ms. Helper gave the article “the Present Dominion of Islam,” and the other ladies of the society assigned Ms. Thompson to present on American missions and Ms. Andough on Asia. Before the meeting concluded, however, the women decided to require each woman to pay 10 cents in order to be a member of the Ladies Missionary Society.2
The Ladies Missionary Society allowed women the opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the Presbyterian Church of Davidson College – but only if you could pay the membership fee. It also provided the nominated women an opportunity to hold a leadership position, demonstrating to the other members of the church, specifically the males, that women could be in charge of important matters such as fundraising, financial planning and budgeting, roles normally set aside for men. Although the women in The Society experienced more agency in their role than at any other time within the Davidson College Presbyterian Church, the entry fee created limited access. By the mid 19th century, women in the Presbyterian Church started to find more spaces for their voices to be heard, but often times these women came from white, affluent backgrounds. The Ladies Missionary Society was a step forward for women in general, yet it would take decades before underprivileged women began to hold some form of power within the Presbyterian Church.
Bibliography:
R. Brackenridge , Douglas and Lois A. Boyd. “United Presbyterian Policy on Women and the Church—an Historical Overview.” Journal of Presbyterian History 1962-1985 59, no. 3 1981.
“Women of the Church,” Minutes, 1885-1889, DC023.
Speak Your Mind