Finishing Schools

This topic came up on a writers email loop about finishing schools in the 19th century. I started searching in google books and discovered the term "finishing school" was used quite differently during that century. Basically, "finishing school" referred to a higher education and was often used in terms of finishing schools for boys and sometimes girls. So, I searched a little deeper and came across this excerpt from Graham's Magazine, Volume 41 by Frederick Bremer ©1852 Referencing School of Design for Women.


My thoughts involuntarily sped back across the sea to the country, to the people who preeminently among all the nations of the earth govern themselves, and to one of the Schools of Design for Women, which have lately begun to spring up there, with that fresh, vigorous growth, which all great, public, useful undertakings have in the soil of the New World. I saw the school which had been commenced fn the first instance in the shade of private life, by Mrs. Sarah Peter, an English lady, with a warm feeling of fellow-citizenship; which had been taken up by the government, and incorporated with the Franklin Institution, at Philadelphia, with an annual endowment of three thousand dollars. I saw once more the large, light halls there; saw the kind, cheerful mistress happy in her vocation, happy in the progress of her pupils, and in the flourishing condition of the school.

I saw the young girls' beaming countenances, saw how a happy consciousness had arisen within them, as if they would say, "We also have now obtained work in God's beautiful vineyard!"

I saw them drawing vine-shoots and palms, as decoration for walls and floors; saw genins here unfold its youthful wings in joyful amazement at its own powers; and patient industry gladly take her place in the service of her more ardent sister; saw in the practical direction which the spirit of the New World gives to all work, an infinite future and sphere of operation openad for women in the employment of that talent which Mother Nature has given to them for the beautifying of life—the sense of the beautiful, a feeling for the tasteful and the ornamental—a talent which has hitherto been employed merely in a circumscribed manner.

"See!" said a warm-hearted, right-minded man, Dr. E., who accompanied me through the scholars' room, " this work by Elizabeth B.! fifteen dollars have been paid for it. And this second design for a carpet, by Miss ___, this has been ordered and
twelve dollars are paid for it. This little pattern for calico-printing—see how pretty it is!—has been bought for two dollars—this for three. And these wood-cuts, are they not well done? The young girls who do these are full of orders for similar ones, and can command their own price. This lithograph is another work of Miss ____; and these lithographed groupes of flowers, ordered for a little book, are by
Miss ____, and twelve dollars are paid for each. But I must introduce you to this young girl, Miss ____. She used formerly to maintain herself by her needle; she did needlework even for my family; but it was discovered that she possessed so remarkable a talent for drawing, that after only seven months' instruction, she is secure of provision for the whole of her life, by means of art."

Dr. E. and the head mistress together, selected spcciraensofthe young girls' various works. "Take," said they, "this, and this, and this, and this, home with you to your fatherland."

This was in North America; in the country which preeminently opens a free field for the development of women. In Europe a few individual voices are raised for this object. In America it is the universal coice which says—

"He who points out a new field for the employment of female industry, ought to be regarded as one of the public benefactors. And every means by which such a field becomes accessible to woman recommends itself to society as an important agent in the civilization of the future."

First Woman to Obtain a Patent

Mary Dixon Kies was the first woman to obtain a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 5, 1809. It was for a technique weaving straw with silk and thread. This process improved the process of hat-making. Dolley Madison honored her for this work. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful in her attempts to profit from her invention and died penniless, which is a sad tale to say because in the first year after her patent the estimated value of profit from her patent was half a million dollars in 1810 alone.

Women's Property Rights

Women's Property

In 1848 the state of New York passed the Married Women's Property Act

Each state had their own set of rights of women. The widow had more rights than the married woman. I recall reading somewhere that as soon as a widow married her new husband had legal rights to earn money off the property but could not sell the property without the wife's signature. This allowed the widow to give the property to her children from the first marriage.

New York's 1848 law helped shape the rights of women in the years to come. But it still was a struggle through the 19th century.

Female Steamboat Captain

Below you will find an article that was written in 1896, primarily about Mary Greene earning her Master Pilot license. Many report that she was the only female Captain but in fact there were a few others, which is reported in the second to the last paragraph. This information come from the Ohio public library site http://wheeling.weirton.lib.wv.us/history/bus/river/m_greene.htm

I like what I've read about Mary, but more importantly, I like the actual interviews that have been reported and the account her granddaughter gave in a recent book, an excerpt is at Google books. Link

Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, Feb. 3, 1896; p. 2

A WOMAN PILOT

Mrs. Gordon Green Tells of Her Experience on the River.

Since Mrs. Gordon Green, wife of Captain Green, of the Wheeling-Pittsburgh packet, H. K. Bedford, took out papers making her a fully authorized pilot on the river between Pittsburgh and Marietta, there has been much interest in the incident. The Pittsburgh Post prints an interview with Mrs. Green, in the course of which she tells her story as follows:

"Well, it was very easy: you see, I spend a good bit of time in the pilot house with the captain -- my husband, you know -- and it is only natural that I should get to know the river. Of course, he took a great deal of pains to show me everything and often let me try my hand at managing the boat. In the course of the five years of our married life I have seen a great deal of the river, and it seems very natural that I should learn something of it. It requires only a good memory to know the channel, and, as for learning to ring the bells, and how to handle the boat, that is comparatively easy.

"You see, we have never gone to housekeeping yet. This boat has been my home ever since the captain and I were married, and I nearly always stand watch with him. Five years as a 'striker' ought to qualify almost anyone for a pilot, even if they had a less able and willing instructor than I had."

"But do you like the river? Is your floating home as pleasant as one on the bank would be?" asked the reporter.

"Oh, yes. I like the river ever so much. The captain has to be with his boat nearly all the time, and if we were keeping house we would be practically separated. Then I have very nice rooms here, and when I want to get away from the passengers I can retire to them. There is a constant change of scene, which is very agreeable, and then one is always meeting so many people that one knows. A great deal of my time is spent in the pilot house though, and altogether, I think it very nice to live on a boat."

"Do you intend to stand a regular watch on the boat?" queried the reporter.

"No, indeed; I didn't get my license for that. We have a pilot and Mr. Green stands one watch, so there is no necessity for my doing anything of the kind. I wanted my license because I felt that I was entitled to it. Then I can help the captain when he is on watch, or take the wheel for awhile for amusement if I like. If we should be left without a pilot for a time I could take a turn in the pilot house until we could get someone else. That is all the piloting I expect to do."

"But don't you find it hard work?"

"Oh, it is easy to handle the Bedford. It is a small boat, you know, and by being careful I have no trouble. Sometimes the wheel throws me around a little, but I always manage to keep it under control."

"Are we to infer from your entering the ranks of pilots that you look with favor on the new woman idea?"

"Several of my friends have asked me that since I got my license," she said, laughing. "I always tell them that I don't bother much about such stuff. I am contented to be just what I am, a woman, in the good old-fashioned way. I don't think there is anything unwomanly or advanced in my being able to steer a boat, and I am contented to let the captain do the voting for the family."

The captain has a far higher opinion of his wife's abilities than she has herself. In response to a query as to whether he was not a little proud of his new pilot, he straightened himself up, and said in a way that was eloquent of his earnest sincerity:

"You bet I am."

Mrs. Greene was Miss Mary Becker before her marriage, and her home is on Little Muskingum creek six miles from Marietta. Her father was the proprietor of a prosperous country store, and before Captain Greene won her, at the age of twenty-two, she had proved herself a shrewd business woman. One of her brothers is a prominent physician of Cincinnati, and the family are at least well-to-do.

Mrs. Greene is the only woman who ever took out her initial license at the Pittsburgh office. Mrs. Callie French, however, renewed her papers as pilot at this port last year. She is the wife of the proprietor of the French's show boat, and is said to be the best pilot that ever turned the wheel on the Ruth, the little craft that pushes the show up and down the rivers. Mrs. T. P. Leathers is licensed as a pilot at the New Orleans office, and stands a regular watch on her husband's boat, the T. P. Leathers, running out of New Orleans. A Mrs. Miller, formerly held a pilot's license at Cincinnati, but is not now on the river. Mrs. Ben Young, of Cincinnati, holds a master's license, and spends her time on her husband's boat, the Lee H. Brooks.

When the H. K. Bedford left the harbor Friday afternoon, Mrs. Greene was in the pilot house, and her husband stood on the roof watching her clever manipulation of the big pilot wheel. As it spun around and the Bedford rounded out into the stream, he looked as well satisfied as if he owned the whole river.

A Woman's Column from The Railroad Trainman 1890

Below is a copy of the "Women's Department" in an 1890 Railroad Trainman journal. Please note this was a two column article, which will make sense of the order and wording of some of the text below.

In the recent election of School Board in Boston, over six thousand ladies cast ballots.
The veil is said to have originated with the Hebrews, and was made of silk instead of lace.
The color of the Eiffel tower will have its influence in the world of fashion. Its brownish red will be conspicuous in French novelties this season.'

Mes. Ellen M. Giffoed, of New Haven, has given over 1116,000 to institutions and societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals. $30,000 of it was donated to a home for suffering animals in Boston.
We desire to again call attention to the necessity of sending all contributions for the Woman's Department directly to this office. They must reach Galesburg early in the month to appear in the following issue.

Conteirutions of several pages must possess unusual merit to be accepted. Observe that no long articles now appear in the Journal. We prefer those which make less than a page in print, and which never exceed two pages.

The Trainmen's Journal has undertaken to present each month the portrait of a remarkable woman. It is not possible, of course, to always give our readers the likeness and sketch of a woman conspicuous in labor circles. Such an undertaking would not only be impossible, but would confine us to a circle too limited to be thoroughly interesting. The intention is to have the range of subjects such as will give the life and variety that is pleasing.

Advice For American Women.
"I say to American girls who want to marry English dukes and marquises, earls and barons, lords and honorables and sirs, preserve your beauty; wear your veils and broad brimmed hats; keep out of the sun and wind: dread tan and freckles as you would the bite of a rattlesnake; retain your peach-like skins and your fragile figures. English dukes and marquises, earls and barons, lords, and honorables, and sirs, have enough bronze, leather-faced young women to choose from in Engiand without wanting any more from America. Give up tennis, unless beneath a wideawake, and even then just think of your poor hands! A backhander, which skims the net may cause you a thrill of delight, but it adds to the circumference of your wrist every time.
*****
"It is my belief that in their endeavor to be rough and mannish, brawny and brown-skinned, the American girls are overdoing it. It is a fad that will soon fade. It is too hot to last. There is really no stay in it. Unaccustomed to exercise, as exercise and for exercise's sake, these American girls will presently tire of their muscle and brown skins. Muscle and brown skins will then cease to be the fashion, and the pale faces and pink-and-white complexions will 'come in' again. In England, however,there will be no change."—[A London Press Correspondent.

It is fortunate for American women that the writer of the above advice lived to get across the Atlantic. Had anything prevented him studying the tastes of English noblemen American girls might have gone on indefinitely taking a little exercise, venturing out into the open air,and occasionally allowing a stray sunbeam to peep into their windows. It is quite unfortnnate this information didn't come months ago. The young women have been encouraged to ride and row and tramp through the woods, and even to play tennis, never dreaming, poor things, that it is dreadfully coarse and vulgar to increase the strength and circumference of their white wrists. They have even ventured to become florists and cultivate roses in the greenhouse without suspecting that it was foolish to bring the roses of health to their cheeks. And more; they have even dared to be gardeners and actually take right hold of a common hoe and massacre the -weeds in an onion bed. Ugh! The horrid creatures! And all this time they were unconscious of the fact that this was all wrong—that it is not what English nobility wants them to do, at all. This is a truly dreadful state of affairs and must be stopped instanter. The Journal hastens to assure tha London correspondent that the advice is fully appreciated on this side of the pond, and that it will leave nothing undone to hasten the "pink-and-white" millennium. And venturing to speak for the ladies, we further assure him that their only desire is to please Englishmen, and that the ambition of their lives is to lessen the frowns of English disapproval. In fact they don't give any other excuse for being in existence at all.

The correspondent may rest assured that all these awful practices will be promptly stopped. He did the proper thing by springing right into the gap. These relics of barbarism must be stamped out. Tennis must be tabooed. The sidesaddle must go. The hoe must be everlastingly banished. It may be a little unpleasant for the girls to stay out of the open air all the time, but they will have it to do. It may seriously injure their health, but that is a small matter if they can win an English smile. It may kill half of them off. What of it? The survivors will be sure of "pale faces and pink-and-white complexions," and it shall be done. Just let the nobility have a little patience and feminine barbarism over here will get a black eye.

A Woman with a record is Mrs. Emma Bull, of Maple, Maine, now ninety years old. She was one of the first settlers on the Aroostook river, and during the first three months did not see even an Indian woman.

ELIZABETH BISLAND.

On the opposite page we present the portrait (recently published by Leslies') of a young woman who has performed a remarkable feat. Without employing any unusual mode of conveyance—without chartering any fast special trains or using any other than the ordinary mode of transportation at the command of every traveler, and being subjected to the same delays as the regular tourist, she circumnavigated the globe in seventy-five days — the best record ever made without employing special facilities. In this remarkable trip the courageous young woman traveled entirely alone, and whiled away her time by preparing a description of what she saw and learned, for publication in the Cosmopolitan upon her return.
Miss Bisland is a native of the South, and made her first appearance as a writer by occasional sketches in the New Orleans newspapers. After attracting some attention by literary ability she went to New York city about three years ago and became a contributor to a number of excellent publications. About three months ago the Cosmopolitan made an arrangement whereby her entire time is to be devoted to that rising star in the literary firmament, and her first work written while circumnavigating the globe, will be eagerly awaited by everybody who longs to see the strange sights of foreign countries as pictured by her pen.

On Women's Rights

Women's Rights came into the forefront during the later part of the 19th Century. Below is an article in response to another article that the writer totally disagreed with. Personally, I agree with the writer of this article but that's my own personal opinions and those of a 21st Century woman. However, it is always good to hear from those who were living at the time their opinions on Women's Rights. Enjoy!

The Husband Question.
[Written for the Journal.] Not long since, my eye fell upon an article in the Ladies' Home Journal, which struck my bump of combativeness, and aroused me to pass all former bounds and express myself on paper. The article mentioned was in answer to the question, "How shall I keep my husband at home?" and the answer in substance was that a woman should give her husband to understand that she knows nothing—therefore nothing must be expected of her; then he will be surprised and pleased should she give any evidence of possessing a little intellect and finally, if well entertained with all the neighborhood gossip and well fed, he will find his home attractive.
Now, I consider such an article [as that as just so much of a hinderance to the progression of woman. Through all the centuries since Adam and Eve, woman has been gradually lifting herself up to the plane upon which she will be recognized as the equal and natural companion of man, and every word which advises a woman to accept a position less than this has, in a measure, a tendency backward toward barbarism.
In this stage of civilization, and more especially in our own land of freedom, where young men and women mingle in society without the restraint of a chaperone and where marriages are founded on mutual attraction and without the services of a "go-between," it is reasonable to suppose that, as a rule, a man chooses one whom he regards as his equal to be his companion through life. Hence I say, the inequalities of married life are not intellectual inequalities, but differences arising from uncontrolled tempers and appetites, or from diversities of tastes.
If this be true, no amount of humbling one's self before one's husband is going to restore the lost congeniality. The man of the nineteenth century is prone to accept his wife's own estimate of herself, and if we give our husbands to understand that we are know-nothings, who can blame them if they treat us as such? If we entertain our husbands with neighborhood gossip and society scandal, can we blame them if they think us capable of nothing higher or better?
Since the beginning of civilization, homes have been held as sacred places. If a man be but one degree above a savage he expects the home influence to be elevating. If he be disappointed in this—if he feels that the sanctuary is desecrated, can he be blamed if he turn from it? Though he may go where a worse influence prevails, it will be where nothing better is expected; where he will not feel that there is a perversion of that which should be holy. Sister Lit.
Source: The Railroad Trainman ©1890