Last month, we looked at the story of Amanda Lucas and her relationship with male merchants/JFA trustees/poor farm administrators/county courts. While espousing the benefits of women’s education, the trustees of the JFA also forced low-income women to work off debts. Since then, I’ve cross checked the names of all the women forced to work at theContinue reading “Pious women only”
Author Archives: jennybarkerdevine
New Year’s Resolutions
No, this is not a list of things I want to accomplish. In fact, it’s my anti-list. It’s my call to tell myself and everyone else on the planet to just relax. The holiday season was one of much needed rest and reflection. Feeling as though I had not accomplished all that I had hoped inContinue reading “New Year’s Resolutions”
Wives of Famous Men
Happy holidays! This week we’ll keep it short and sweet with a touch of humor. As I go about thinking of women in Jacksonville, many of the main players were the wives of famous men. Unlike their husbands, however, they left few records as to how they actually felt about their families, their marriages, andContinue reading “Wives of Famous Men”
Infant Schools – or Daycare in 1830s Jacksonville
Last month, you read about women coming to Jacksonville in the 1830s to teach. This week, we’ll add one more to the list: Miss Caroline Blood. Her name first caught my eye when I found this ad, placed by Sarah Crocker in the Illinois Patriot on 19 October 1833. Just above it is an ad for an InfantContinue reading “Infant Schools – or Daycare in 1830s Jacksonville”
One town, two worlds
On November 1, 1848, twenty-two-year-old Mary Ann Lucas arrived the Morgan County Poor Farm, blind and destitute. Her widowed mother, Elizabeth, had fallen on hard times. It was up to her younger sister, nineteen-year-old Amanda Lucas, to support her mother, sister, and twelve-year-old brother, John. By the end of November, Amanda accumulated a debt of $16.50. She purchased shoes,Continue reading “One town, two worlds”
Quenching the fire in her heart: The Ladies’ Association for Educating Females
One of my big questions in American Athena is: What happens when you have a community of educated females? Do women agitate for and enjoy more social, political, and economic rights? Does it affect how they shape their institutions and move in public spaces?
The Personal Retreat
In the previous post on finding a topic, I mentioned the benefits of taking a personal retreat. As we approach the holidays that require we think on gratitude and giving, it is a good time for personal reflection and setting new goals. That can be hard to do – and really do well – withoutContinue reading “The Personal Retreat”
Choosing a topic
Every writer has a unique way of arriving at their subject matter. For me, American Athena was something of a surprise. There were more than a few raised eyebrows when I announced to friends and colleagues in January 2015 that I was embarking on a history of Midwestern women in the nineteenth century because it was so unlikeContinue reading “Choosing a topic”
Finding the meaning in sources: the diary of Laura Manier
Historians approach sources in two ways: first, what does the source say. Second, what does the source mean. As a historian with a dual interest in archives, I enjoy an unusual relationship with source materials. Unlike most researchers who visit distant repositories, I’m still the primary steward of the Khalaf Al Habtoor Archives at Illinois College (that is, untilContinue reading “Finding the meaning in sources: the diary of Laura Manier”
A Fire in Her Bones
As its main selling point, this 1892 advertisement claims the JFA is the “oldest institution in the West for the education of young ladies.” My colleagues and I have often repeated this fact, but we have to ask: It this true? Is this really important? Why do they need to be first? Why to we needContinue reading “A Fire in Her Bones”
American Athena 