Southern Ladies, New Women: Race, Region, and Clubwomen in South Carolina, 1890-1930

303 Pages·2004·2.15 MB·English

by  Joan Marie Johnson

Southern Ladies,
New Women
Race, Region, and Clubwomen
in South Carolina, 1890-1930
Joan Marie Johnson
university press of florida
Southern Ladies, New Women
new perspectives on the history of the south
university press of florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola

Southern Ladies,
New Women
race, region, and clubwomen
in south carolina, 1890-1930
(cid:2)
joan marie johnson
university press of florida
Gainesville ·Tallahassee ·Tampa ·Boca Raton
Pensacola ·Orlando ·Miami ·Jacksonville ·Ft. Myers ·Sarasota
Copyright 2004 by Joan Marie Johnson
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Johnson, Joan Marie.
Southern ladies, new women : race, region, and clubwomen
in South Carolina, 1890–1930 / Joan Marie Johnson;
foreword by John David Smith, series editor.
p. cm. – (New perspectives on the history of the South)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 970-8130-2782-1 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn 970-8130-3710-3 (e-book)
1. Women—South Carolina—Societies and clubs—History.
2. African American women—South Carolina—Societies and clubs—History.
3. Women social reformers—South Carolina—History. 4. Social problems—
South Carolina—History. 5. South Carolina—History—1865–
I. Title. II. Series.
hq1905.s6j64 2004
305.4'06'0757—dc22 2004053718
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for
the State University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University,
Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International
University, Florida State University, New College of Florida, University of
Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North Florida, University
of South Florida, and University of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://www.upf.com
Dedicated to
Elise, Sophie, Darci, and Don
(cid:2)

Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Series Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xiii
1. Southern Ladies, New Women 1
2. “As Intensely Southern As I Am”: Black and White Clubwomen, the
United Daughters of the Confederacy, and Southern Identity 24
3. “Less Said Soonest Mended”:
The Parallel Lives of Black and White Clubwomen 60
4. “Unity in Diversity”:
South Carolina Clubwomen, the South, and the Nation 89
5. Reluctant Reformers, Resistant Legislators:
White Clubwomen and Social Reform 129
6. “Exalting the Cause of Virtue”:
Black and White Clubwomen and Juvenile Reformatories 168
Conclusion. “This Wonderful Dream Nation!”:
Contesting Confederate Culture 202
Notes 209
Bibliography 259
Index 277
Illustrations
1. Louisa Poppenheim 85
2. Louisa Poppenheim, president
of the South Carolina Federation of Women’s Clubs 85
3. Mary and Louisa Poppenheim published the Keystone 86
4. Marion Wilkinson and other women
in the International Council of Women of the Darker Races 87
5. Marion Birnie Wilkinson Home for Girls 87
6. Marion Birnie Wilkinson, president
of the South Carolina Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs 88
Foreword
Joan Marie Johnson’s pathbreaking Southern Ladies, New Women: Race, Re-
gion, and Clubwomen in South Carolina, 1890–1930 joins an increasing
number of books that use class, gender, and race to illumine the complexi-
ties of Southern history, historical memory, and identity. Women’s clubs,
North and South, black and white, were important gendered components
of the Progressive Era. By World War I their membership totaled over
one million nationally.
Elite and middle-class women joined clubs to establish and promote
female solidarity, to exchange intellectual interests, and to lobby and then
initiate reform. They studied literature, discussed historical and current
events, and pushed for social and political change. Clubwomen cam-
paigned for the construction of libraries, kindergartens, schools, and re-
formatories. But they also led the fight to improve conditions for laborers,
to clean up the cities, and to promote public health.
Examining minutely the women’s club movement among blacks and
whites in South Carolina, Johnson underscores the clubwomen’s “abilities
both to fuse Southern identity construction with social reform work and
to reconcile tradition with progress.” Drawing upon a rich arsenal of
sources, including minutes, newspapers, private papers, official publica-
tions, and oral history interviews, she compares the contributions, goals,
and strategies of three organizations. These include the white South Car-
olina Federation of Women’s Clubs (SCFWC) founded in 1898, the South
Carolina Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs (SCFCWC) launched in
1909, and the South Carolina state division of the United Daughters of
the Confederacy (UDC) organized in 1896. Though the SCFWC and the
UDC shared many members and ideals, the UDC aimed its social reform
narrowly at Confederate veterans and their widows while the women’s
clubs had much broader social agendas. Each of the groups is significant,
however, in the varied ways they intertwined race, gender, reform, and the