black ideals

Black Ideals of Womanhood in the Late Victorian Era
Author(s): Shirley J. Carlson
Source: The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 77, No. 2 (Spring, 1992), pp. 61-73
Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Association for the Study
of African American Life and History
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3031483
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BLACK IDEALS OF WOMANHOOD IN
THE LATE VICTORIAN ERA

By
Shirley J. Carlson*

Many historians of the black experience have written about the dual character of
African-American culture. They have found that black Americans have developed a
culture which incorporates that of European-Americans, as well as their African
and African-American ancestors. W.E.B. DuBois made this observation nearly a
century ago, when he spoke of blacks as having developed a "twoness,-[as] an
American, a Negro."' More recently, John Blassingame in The Slave Community:
Plantation Life in the Ante-bellum South, Charles Joyner in Down by the River-
side: A South Carolina Slave Community, and Deborah Gray White in Ar'n't I a
Woman: Female Slaves in the Plantation South are a few of the works which ex-
plore the history and culture of African-Americans.2

Focusing on Illinois during the late Victorian era, from about 1880 to 1910, the
present work argues that the dual culture of black Americans can be seen in their
ideal of womanhood. The ideal black woman embodied the genteel behavior of the
"cult of true womanhood," as espoused by the larger society. In addition, as an
African-American, her thoughts and actions exemplified the attributes valued by her
own race and community.3

In the late Victorian era Illinois had a small but diverse black female populace.4
A few black women were native born; most were migrants from the South and the
East. In the large cities, small towns, and rural areas, former slaves mingled with
freeborn blacks. Professionals, farmers and farmworkers, domestic servants and
washerwomen, the unemployed, and others lived and worked in close proximity.5

Records left by these black Illinois women and men-especially the middle
class-offer a view of their community life and social expectations.6 Black newspa-
pers, records of churches, benevolent and fraternal societies and sororities, women's
clubs, and schools, memoirs and personal papers help to establish the ideas and
values of the post-emancipation black community in Illinois. A central figure within
this black community was one which we might call "Black Victoria," the preemi-
nent black woman.

Black Victoria, like her white counterpart, was committed to the domestic sphere,
where she was a wife and mother. She ran an attractive and well managed home
and attended to sundry household chores, possibly with the aid of a domestic ser-
vant. She was a supportive and dutiful companion to her husband and a loving and
nurturing mother to her children. While she assumed some responsibility for educat-

* Shirley J. Carlson is an Associate Professor of Historical Studies at Southern Illinois University at
Edwardsville, Illinois.

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62 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

ing her offspring, this responsibility was increasingly shared with the school system
where the teachers were likely to be female, also. This ideal woman spent her leisure
time in a variety of social activities, including attendance at teas and luncheons,
parties and church activities, among others.

Morally unassailable, she was virtuous and modest. Her personality was amia-
ble-or "sweet" to use black parlance-she was also altruistic and pious. In appear-
ance she was well groomed and presentable at all times. Her hair was carefully
arranged and her costume was immaculate and appropriate for the occasion. In
public she wore the traditional Victorian attire: A floor-length dress, with fitted bod-
ice, a full skirt, and long sleeves often trimmed with a ruffle or lace. For formal
wear, she would likely don a low-cut gown, which might reveal a considerable por-
tion of her "neck." The ever present hanky with tatted or crocheted trim displayed
her delicate taste and her ability at fine needlework. In all these attributes, Black
Victoria upheld the expectations of "true womanhood" which were shared by the
larger society.7 She was a "lady."

But Black Victoria had other qualities: Qualities which were emphasized by her
own black community. First and foremost, she was intelligent and well-educated.
She displayed a strong community and racial consciousness, often revealed in her
work-whether paid or unpaid-within the black community. Self-confident and
out-spoken, she was highly esteemed by her community which frequently applauded
her as a "race woman" and role model for young people. In these areas, the black
community's expectations of the ideal woman differed from those of the larger
society.

The black community's appreciation for and development of the feminine intellect
contrasted sharply with the views of the larger society. In the latter, intelligence was
regarded as a masculine quality which would "defeminize" women. The ideal white
woman, being married, confined herself almost exclusively to the private domain of
the household. She was demur, perhaps even self-effacing. She often deferred to her
husband's presumably superior judgment, rather than formulating her own views
and vocally expressing them, as black women often did. A woman in the larger
society might skillfully manipulate her husband for her own purposes, but she was
not supposed to confront or challenge him directly. Black women were often direct,
and frequently won community approval for this quality, especially when such a
characteristic was directed toward achieving "racial up lift." Further, even after her
marriage, a black woman might remain in the public domain, possibly in paid em-
ployment. The ideal black woman's domain, then, was both the private and the pub-
lic spheres. She was wife and mother, but she could also assume other roles, such as
schoolteacher, social activist, businesswoman, among others. And she was
intelligent.

The attributes of Victorian womanhood which were shared with the larger culture
have been discussed at great length in sundry works. Older pieces include Barbara
Welter, "The Cult of True Womanhood, 1820-1860"; Gerda Lerner, "The Lady
and the Mill Girls"; and Mary P. Ryan, Womanhood in America: From Colonial
Times to the Present, among others. Newer works abound, as for example Mabel
Donnelly, The American Victorian Woman: The Myth and the Reality and Glenna
Matthews, "Just a Housewife". The Rise and Fall of Domesticity in America. Va-

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BLACK IDEALS OF WOMANHOOD 63

rious works on black women's history have shown that the "cult of true woman-
hood" had an impact on the lives of black women. For example, Elsa Barkley
Brown, "Womanist Consciousness: Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Or-
der of Saint Luke"; Jacqueline Anne Rouse, Lugenia Burns Hope: Black Southern
Reformer; Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Daughters of Sorrow: Attitudes Toward Black
Women, 1880-1920 have all demonstrated that middle and upper class black women
observed the Victorian proprieties.8 Further discussion here of the social expecta-
tions gleaned from the larger culture would add very little to the scholarship. Thus,
the present work will focus upon the second aspect of the black Victorian woman's
role-that emanating from within the black community.

The black Victorian woman owed her genesis to her historical experience as an
African-American. The African background and the slave experience were para-
mount. Deborah White in Ar'n't I a Woman observes that slave women maintained
a great deal of their African heritage. Further, although slave women had different
roles than slave men, these women did not view themselves-nor were they viewed
by their men-as inferiors. White writes of slave women:

they were not submissive, subordinate, or prudes and they were not expected to be
so. . ..Women. . .had different roles from those of men and they also had a great deal in com-
mon with their African foremothers, who, in many West African societies, held positions not in-
ferior but complementary of those of men. . ..mutual respect characterized relationships between
the sexes.9

Slave women worked outside their own households, usually in the fields, though
sometimes in the Big House, or elsewhere. Obviously, then, slave women did not
view their domain as confined to the household, as white women did. Further, free
black women in antebellum America were often employed outside their own homes.
After emancipation, many black women-even those from the upper middle and
upper classes-remained in the work force.10 Thus, the black community developed
values oriented toward both sexes achieving in the world of work. The attainment of
a formal education and the development of the intellect were paramount.

The dual culture of black Americans is exemplified, for example, by the value
which Illinois blacks placed on education." In the larger society, girls and women
were urged to become educated so that they could become good wives and good
mothers, especially to their sons.12 To this, the black community added the expecta-
tion that the female sex become educated for the same purpose as were males-that
is, for self-improvement, as well as community and racial "up lift."

By the late Victorian era, both sexes were constantly exhorted by black churches,
clubs, fraternal and benevolent societies, and newspapers to attend school. The
Knights and Daughters of Tabor, a black fraternal society, expressed a sentiment
common among African-Americans: "Education and a cultivated mind will open the

way to a useful and respected life."1'3 Or, as the Mount Olive Baptist Association,
federation of black Baptist churches in Illinois, stated it: "Education is the lever by
which we are to be raised to eminence.14 The Association's-continuing faith in edu-

cation was noted in annual resolutions such as the one passed in 1910.

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64 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

Whereas Education is a great and powerful agent in the uplif
mend that this convention stand out in bold relief for Relig
cation of our sons and daughters."'

Another Illinois church organization, the Wood River Baptist Association, expressed
a similar view in its periodic recommendations. A typical one was passed in 1902.

Our conception of the ideal education embraces the employment of those right influences, the
proper application of those formulated doctrines and scientific methods that finally result in the
making of real men and women successfully filling the whole round of duty. We are for those
processes that make for thoughtfulness, industry, and self-control, that awaken a pride for the
possession of all the rights and privileges growing out of the requirements of a complete citizen-
ship produce in the individual a fullness of life that is inseparable from the Divine.1"

The African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) and other black churches also empha-
sized the importance of education.17

The National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (N.A.C.W.), founded in
1896, paid special attention to education for both sexes. National conferences, state
and local federations, and projects at all levels indicated that the group was firmly
committed to education. A history of the organization written by Elizabeth L. Davis
of Chicago lauded "our bright brainy women" for their service to the black commu-
nity and the nation, particularly within the field of education.'8

Support for black education came from the press, also. Black newspapers dis-
cussed education in virtually all issues, encouraging girls and women, as well as
boys and men, to avail themselves of the growing educational opportunities. The
Springfield Forum urged "Young girls to attend schools longer and learn some-
thing.""' The Cairo Truth wrote that education would teach black youth "to be men
and women of character that they may be trusted and trust others" and that it
would "train them to per-severe. "20

Rather than focus upon an education which emphasized the domestic sphere and
the social graces, as in the larger culture, girls and women should pursue an educa-
tion which would develop their economic independence, according to many black
observers. In a particularly strong endorsement of intellectual education for women,
black historian William T. Alexander was critical of the non-academic education
offered by some contemporary schools for girls and women.

Our miscalled education looks chiefly as to how a young girl may make a good figure in soci-
ety. . . . We see many who are afraid of saying openly what they think or feel, if it be in opposi-
tion to the accredited opinion of the world.

We want men and women who will think for themselves.21

Lizzie A. Davis, Illinois organizer for the N.A.C.W. and president of the Phillis
Wheatley Club of Chicago, concurred with Alexander. She urged blacks to educate
their daughters for self-sufficiency. Davis contended that girls should focus more
attention upon vocational and educational training than upon fashions.

Train the girls thoroughly in domestic economy; let them learn some useful vocation if they never
have to follow it, they will be none the worse for knowing their independence. Teach them that
there are things more important than fine clothes and that their brains are not located in their
heels.22

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BLACK IDEALS OF WOMANHOOD 65

The economic advantages of education were also noted by blacks, who champi-
oned efforts to educate "our boys and girls" in order to "give every child a trade
that they may work to obtain the highest wages possible"23 and participate "in the
many avocations of industrial life."24 The St. Louis Palladium, widely read in
southern Illinois, expressed a viewpoint of many blacks when it contended that
"Now is the time that girls should look forward to the future and not depend upon
others."25

That black girls and women pursued both pubic schooling and higher education is
well documented in school records, census data, and other sources.26 The black com-
munity often proudly noted the matriculation of black females, sometimes com-
menting on other aspects of their lives as well. For example, "Ida Hill of Mound
City has been attending the institute at Charleston, Missouri and came over to this
city [Cairo] to spend a few days.27 And

Among the graduates of the Art Institute of Chicago at Fullerton Memorial recently was Miss
Minnie C. Kelly. Miss Kelly is a native of Padukah, Kentucky and a graduate of Tuskegee Insti-
tute. Before taking up her studies in Chicago, Miss Kelly lived in St. Louis.28

The Chicago Defender was very complimentary of black women graduates, as for
example Miss M.A. Taylor who graduated from the University of Chicago. Robert
Abbott, publisher and editor of the Defender, wrote

There is nothing so encouraging to the loyal members of the race when at spring time we watch
with pride the goodly number of college men and women who stretch forth their hands for the
conventional sheepskin.29

Preeminent among well-educated young women were schoolteachers. Indeed,
within the African-American community, teachers were the figures most often
presented as role models for girls and young women. The black Victorian school-
teacher exemplified the interplay of the two cultures-European-American and Af-
rican-American-within the Illinois black community. A teacher was expected to
combine intellect and high morality with a pleasing personality, physical grace, and
perhaps beauty to represent an ideal of black womanhood. In addition to these ex-
pectations, shared with the larger society, a black schoolteacher was admired for
other characteristics. Usually single, she was an economically independent woman
praised first and foremost for her intellectual attainment and assistance to the race.
Thus, the teacher not only assisted in educating the young, the role emphasized by
the larger culture, but she was also essential to the "up lift" of the entire black
community. The schoolteachers' sphere clearly extended beyond the confines of the
"cult of womanhood" and the limits of the classroom.

The importance of the schoolteacher's position within the African-American com-
munity is revealed in the many commendations which they received. The Springfield
State Capital, for example, pointed with obvious pride to the promotion of a black
woman as principal of an Alton school.

Miss J.M. Barbour of Alton, Illinois has been elected principal of that school. Miss Barbour is a
deserving young lady and has taught two years in the public schools of Cairo. We congratulate
her upon her promotion. Merit and perseverance will win.30

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66 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

The paper also praised Barbour's sister, Florence, a teacher in the black school in
Upper Alton, for the excellent Columbus Day program which she had directed. The
Capital described Florence Barbour as "a young lady of intellectual ability and high
moral worth."'31 Mattie R. Bowen, a teacher from Washington D.C., was credited
by a Chicago newspaper with having "inspired a large audience by her talks on
'Women's Work," "Builders," "and kindred topics." Bowen was "an earnest worker,
founder of the Sojourner Truth Home for Working Girls, and a popular teacher,"
according to the paper. The article "wished that the race could boast of more
women like her. Doers, not theorists, are needed for the uplift of any race. "32

Many other black women were praised for helping to provide quality education
for black children. The Springfield Illinois Record reported that two Alton women
had opened private schools. Of one, Laura Weeden, the paper said "The Madame
takes a great interest in the little folks."33 Illinois blacks noted the accomplishments
of black women in other geographic areas, also. For example, the Wood River Bap-
tist Association in one of its many resolutions on education, wrote "We commend
the efforts of Miss N.H. Burroughs in establishing an industrial school for girls."34
The Decatur correspondent for the Springfield Forum lauded several young black
women for their accomplishments, including schoolteacher Maggie Murrell. A grad-
uate of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Murrell had taught at Tuskegee
Institute prior to teaching in Washington D.C. Her performance at the latter school
was so outstanding that she was paid the impressive salary of $90 a month. Murrell
was a "Negro representative who deserves our respect," according to the Forum.35

The dual culture of African-Americans is further demonstrated in the social ex-
pectations of black schoolteachers. On the one hand, the teacher was revered by the
black community for her many accomplishments. On the other, she was admonished
to behave in accordance with the moralistic strictures of the larger society. For ex-
ample, the St. Louis Palladium, widely read by Illinois blacks, issued a gentle re-
buke to two teachers, emphasizing that young women, especially teachers, should
avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

Two of our up to date school teachers came into a cafe last Saturday night at a late hour, dressed
in white to perfection (their faces whitened as well). Next time there will be a sensation. Watch
out, late hours are not good for superior ladies and especially public school teachers.36

A later edition of the paper was more harsh in its criticism of an unmarried school-
teacher who reportedly went to the home of two young bachelors and cooked for
them "every Sunday and many times during the week." The paper argued that
"Teachers in our public schools ought to respect their positions, if they do not re-
spect themselves," adding a warning that "Teacher, we are acquainted with you and
if we catch you over there again we will have the police to find out what your
business iS.37

Well-educated black women won more praise than censure, however, suggesting
that their contributions to the community far outweighed the occasional transgres-
sion of Victorian morality. Black women physicians, editors, and others were noted
with the same pride which teachers received. Physician Anna Cooper of Chicago
was highly regarded and ran a successful private practice, as the Broad Ax noted.

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BLACK IDEALS OF WOMANHOOD 67

She is bright and talented and reflects great credit upon the Afro-American race and the Broad
Ax predicts for her unlimited success in her chosen profession.38

Many Illinois women won praise from the Illinois Federation of the N.A.C.W., as
did Annette Harris Officer of East St. Louis, Jennie Coleman McClain of Rock
Island, and Fannie Hall Clint of Chicago.39

Women newspaper editors were also praised for their work. John W. Wheeler,
publisher and editor-in-chief of the Palladium, was very complimentary of co-editor
and schoolteacher Olivia Richardson. While Wheeler was out of town, Richardson
was in charge of the paper and reportedly "proved very capable." Each week she
edited the paper which was "bristling with new thoughts and ideas." Wheeler
lauded her for "penmanship, management of advertising, and accountancy."40
Wheeler further commented that the Palladium had had only two good co-editors,
both women-Richardson and Katie Johnson. Johnson had simultaneously taught
school during her four-year tenure at the paper.41 Two other women editors were
praised by the Springfield Forum in 1906. The comment about Maggie L. Walker,
editor of Richmond, Virginia's St. Luke's Herald gratuitously noted that "she is
quoted from frequently by her male contemporaries and shows that women can say
things both pertinent and efficacious, other than house gossip and the fashions."42
The praise of F. Mundy, co-editor of the Quincy Advance, was unqualified, indicat-
ing that she was "an important factor" in the success of this fledgling paper.43

Some well-educated African-American women were nationally known and ac-
claimed. Indeed, activist women such as Fannie Barrier Williams, Josephine Silone-
Yates, Mary Church Terrell, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin
represented the black ideal of womanhood on a national level.44 Although only two
of these were from Illinois-Williams and Wells-Barnett-Illinois blacks often
noted and commended the efforts of these and other black women of national sta
ure. The aforementioned women were all married, yet this did not preclude their
participation in public activities on behalf of the race. Further, many activist black
women, including those noted here, continued to be identified by their maiden
names-usually as their middle names or as a part of their hyphenated sur-
names-indicating that their own identities were not subsumed in their husbands'.
In fact, some notable black women were better known than their husbands. For
example, despite Ferdinand Barnett's renown as a newspaper publisher, attorney,
and social activist, the Illinois Record referred to him in an 1899 piece as "the
husband of the brilliant Ida B. Wells Barnett."45

Black newspapers, benevolent and fraternal societies, and churches took note of
these nationally known women's accomplishments, often encouraging younger
women to emulate them. These women won praise for the same characteristics and
accomplishments which garnered praise for men: Their intellect, abilities at public
speaking, and accomplishments on behalf of the race. Thus, the Palladium compli-
mented Mary Church Terrell for delivering "one of the best lectures that the people
of St. Louis have ever had the pleasure of listening to."46 The Broad Ax praised her
as "the strongest and most intellectual woman belonging to the Afro-American
race."47 The paper also hailed Fannie Barrier Williams for being "highly educated
and accomplished."48 The Forum called Williams "a woman of rare ability" whose

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68 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

newspaper articles were of the highest order. "She should be a living example to the
young women who desire to make their names great," according to the Forum. The
Forum also saw Josephine Silone-Yates as a role model for young black women. It
described her as "a lady of extraordinary acquisitions and [she] should be a bright
and guiding luminary for our young ladies." The newspaper attributed the intellect
and success of Silone-Yates and other "colored ladies of whom you read so much,"
including Terrell, Williams, Wells-Barnett, and others to the fact that they spent
their time productively-in study and travel-"and not idle." The Forum added
that "the time is ripe for more young ladies to go to the front."49 Silone-Yates
received similar acclaim from a Chicago newspaper. Attending a meeting of the
largely male National Afro-American Council in 1899, Silone-Yates gave a paper
regarding the importance of education and moral training. The Broad Ax declared
that she was "one of the best educated women in the country" and that her presen-
tation had been "of a high literary order."60

F.M. DeBaptiste Faulkner, a former college professor, was highly praised by
blacks for her missionary work in Monrovia, Liberia. Cited as "one of Illinois' no-
blest daughters," she received a lavish toast at a Springfield Negro Women's Cub in
1906.

Mrs. G.M. DeBaptiste Faulkner is a woman the Negro race is due to honor for her womanhood,
intelligence, piety, and Christianity. You are making many sacrifices for the uplifting of fallen
humanity. . . .Your name will be honored with that of Mary Church Terrell, Ida Wells Barnett,
Mrs. Booker T. Washington and other imminent women."'

Faulkner was honored not only for traditional feminine attributes embodied in the
"cult of true womanhood," that is "womanhood," "piety, and Christianity," but also
for qualities so important to the black community, "intelligence" and "uplifting of
fallen humanity."

Ida B. Wells-Barnett, nationally known for her work against lynching, was held in
high esteem by many blacks. A Negro Women's Club in Chicago honored her by
naming their organization after her.62 The Wood River Baptist Association paid her
particularly high praise at its 1894 convention when it passed a resolution support-
ing her work.

That whereas Miss Ida B. Wells, an efficient and worthy Christian lady has taken the lecture field
in this country and in England in defence of the Negroes of North America with respect to our
cruel treatment. . . .And whereas, Southern newspapers and even Governors of some of the states
have put themselves on record as justifying lawless mobs, and denouncing Miss Wells because she
so intrepidly pleads for the right. Therefore, be it resolved that we hereby indorse the actions of
Miss Wells altogether, inasmuch as we know them to be in accord with truth and right, equity
and justice.53

Speaking in Alton in 1898, Wells-Barnett was applauded for both her "intelligent
address" and her status as "a lady of wonderful culture."64 Years later, in 1931,
Wells-Barnett won similar praise from the N.A.C.W. for "Her keen intellect, her
ready pen and her clarion voice" which she utilized "in agitating and protesting
against any form of segregation and discrimination.""" Wells-Barnett was com-
mended both for traditional "feminine" qualities and for her intellect and service to
the black community.

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BLACK IDEALS OF WOMANHOOD 69

Other black women were praised for qualities consistent with "true womanhood"
and for their intellect and social activism. Schoolteacher Susie Brent was described
as "a charming young lady who teaches school at her home, Quincy, Illinois."6,
Mamie Davis, the Petersburg agent of the Forum, was called "a charming lady of
refined proclivities and cultured appearance."67 The Broad Ax, commenting upon
both the sociability and the intellect of schoolteacher S. Frances Lewis, wrote "Miss
Lewis is well versed along educational lines and she made many friends while visit-
ing Chicago."68

The black community did not regard intelligence and femininity as conflicting
values, as the larger society did. That society often expressed the fear that intelli-
gent women would develop masculine characteristics-a thickening waist, a diminu-
tion of breasts and hips, and finally, even the growth of facial hair. Blacks seemed to
have had no such trepidations, or at least they were willing to have their women
take these risks.

The intellect of black women was applauded again and again by the black com-
munity. Even commentary on the physical beauty of black women was often com-
bined with recognition of their accomplishments. The Broad Ax, for example, ob-
served that "three handsome schoolmarms" spoke before the Phillis Wheatley Club
of Chicago. All discussed ways in which mothers and teachers could work more
closely together to improve education.69 Later issues of the paper made similar ob-
servations about the beauty and intellect of other black women. For example,

Mrs. George E. Taylor of Oakloosa, Iowa accompanied her husband to the Kansas City Conven-
tion. . ..Mrs. Taylor is well educated and being handsome she possesses all the qualifications
which go to make up a true woman.60

And

Among the number of beautiful Afro-American women whom we met while visiting Kansas City,
none left a better impression than Miss Maggie L. Robinson who is one of Kansas City's most
popular school teachers.6"

The Palladium, eulogizing Mattie Smith, a former teacher, called her a "lovely
lady" with a "sweet disposition," but also noted that "Mrs. Smith was a fountain of
knowledge."62

The Victorian view that "a woman's place is in the home" found support among
blacks. But even the most conservative expression of this sentiment was often miti-
gated by the assertion that a woman should not confine herself exclusively to the
private sphere. Housewives were called upon to function in the public domain both
for personal development and for the good of the race. Lizzie A. Davis, an Illinois
club woman, contended that "Home is and ever will be the chosen kingdom of wo-
man," but she also encouraged black women to participate in women's clubs. Davis
further indicated that black women's clubs had a very important role in helping the
race, particularly in improving education for blacks.63

The Wood River Baptist Association, like many church organizations, presented a
view of woman's place which was consistent with the "cult of true womanhood."

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70 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

The home is depending upon her. . . .Man depends on her, sons and daughters are looking to her
to find example and God the Father is depending on her to be a light in the home, a peace maker
in the home, a helpmeet in the home, a counselor in the home.64

The women's auxiliary of the Association described themselves as "mothers, wives
and daughters.65 Nonetheless, the larger association and the women's auxiliary also
encouraged women to work outside the household, especially in education, temper-
ance, and missionary work in order to improve the Afro-American community.
Clearly, then, a black woman's sphere could encompass both the private domain and
the public one without causing her stature as a "true woman" to be jeopardized.

Married women were also encouraged to develop their intellect. The Broad Ax
argued that educated men increasingly appreciated and demanded intellect rather
than mere physical beauty in their wives. In fact, intellect was the most important
quality to an educated man, according to this Chicago newspaper.

The enlightened woman becomes the companion of man [of] whose society he can never tire. As
man rises in the intellectual scale he demands more and more this substantial companionship of a
wife. . . .the progress of civilization has brought a change in the aesthetic tastes of manhood, and
while physical beauty has lost some of its charm, moral and intellectual beauty have come to hold
first place and true companionship can be found in the harmonious union of the three.66

Though encouraged to marry, black women were also warned to be careful in
their selection of a mate. Indeed, admonitions to well-educated women sometimes
suggested that they select a mate who could appreciate their career aspirations. The
Palladium included a story of Beatrice Ross, a promising student at the teachers'
institute, who was scheduled to graduate soon. The paper indicated a hope that Ross
would not ruin a promising future by an unfortunate choice in a husband.

She will then be prepared for better things in life, provided she does not marry some worthless
man. Now is the time that girls should look forward to the future and not depend upon others.67

Another story in the same paper expressed a similar view toward newswoman Olivia
Richardson.

We predict for her a bright future in the journalistic world, if she does not turn a benedict and
marry someone who will blot out her future prospects.66

As with other black women, Ross and Richardson presumably would marry, but the
editor of the Palladium hoped that this would not end their promising careers. They
could be wives and mothers, as well as career women. They could fulfill both the
European-American and the African-American cultural expectations.

The late nineteenth century black community in Illinois fostered the development
of a black woman who could address the needs of two societies. She was a "lady,"
as defined by the larger society. As such she comported herself with utmost propri-
ety, according to the strictures of the "cult of true womanhood." She generally mar-
ried and had children. She was modest, pious, amiable, and domesticated. But this
ideal black woman was also intelligent, outspoken, and activist, as appreciated by
her own race. In the works of W.E.B. DuBois, she "would not bleach [her] soul,"
but assisted her race to communicate its "message for the world."

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BLACK IDEALS OF WOMANHOOD 71

Like many others previously neglected in scholarship, blacks were very active in
defining their own communities, and their ideals, values, and activities. Recent stud-
ies by social historians have found that groups presumed by the larger society to
have been passive, were in fact active figures whose cultures were often invisible to
the larger society. Packinghouse workers, immigrants, women and others have been
viewed from this perspective. Similarly, African-American women empowered
themselves and their communities to take control over their own lives.69

The growing body of work, both published and unpublished, on black women's
history is also suggestive. For example, Jacqueline Rouse's work on Lugenia Burns
Hope and Elsa Barkley Brown's on Maggie Lena Walker indicate that both were at
once proper Victorian women and social activists.70 Two recent papers, one by
Wanda Hendricks on Fannie Barrier Williams and another by Elaine M. Smith on
Mary McLeod Bethune would also seem to indicate that Williams and Bethune
were products of the dual culture discussed here.7" Future research in black
women's history will likely show that the "twoness" of the African-American expe-
rience was exhibited in these and many other ways.

NOTES

1 William Edward Burghardt DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk (Greenwich, Conn

1903), p. 17.

2 John Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (New York
1972); Charles Joyner, Down by the Riverside: A South Carolina Slave Community (Urbana, Illinois,
1984); Deborah Gray White, Ar'n't I a Woman: Female Slaves in the Plantation South (New York,

1985).
s U.S. census data provides considerable information on the demography of Illinois' black population.

See also: Mildred Pratt, editor and compiler, "We the People Tell Our Story" (Normal, Illinois, 1987),
pp. 7-8, 19-21, 26. Shirley J. Carlson, "Black Migration to Pulaski County, Illinois, 1860-1900," Illinois
Historical Journal (Spring 1987), pp. 37-46. Hazel M. Hyde, "Two Early Black Families," Nuggets of
History (Summer 1985), pp. 1-3; Juliet E.K. Walker, Free Frank: A Black Pioneer on the Antebellum
Frontier (Lexington, Kentucky, 1983).

United States Census Bureau. Twelfth Census of the United States (1900) Vol. I, Part I Population
(Washington D.C., 1901), pp. 535-536.

6 United States Census Bureau. The Negro Population in the United States, 1790-1915 (Washington
D.C., 1918), pp. 517-521.

6 The primary sources on black women in Illinois include a project directed by Darlene Clark Hine
and discussed in The Black Woman in the Middle West: A Comprehensive Resource Guide, Illinois and
Indiana (Indianapolis, Indiana, 1986). This project is also discussed in Deborah Gray White, "Mining
the Forgotten: Manuscript Sources for Black Women's History," Journal of American History (June
1987), pp. 237-242. The collections of the Illinois State Historical Society include some useful data, also.

I Appropriate deportment and attire were discussed in the women's columns of newspapers, women's
magazines, and other literature directed at women. Black newspapers often reprinted these columns.
Some black papers wrote their own women's columns.

8 Barbara Welter, "The Cult of True Womanhood, 1820-1860," American Quarterly (Summer 1966,
pp. 151-174); Gerda Lerner, "The Lady and the Mill Girl: Changes in the Status of Women in the Age
of Jackson," Midcontinent American Studies Journal (Spring 1969), pp. 5-14; Mary P. Ryan, Woman-
hood in America: From Colonial Times to the Present (New York, 1975). Mabel Donnelly, The Ameri-
can Victorian Woman: The Myth and the Reality (New York, 1986). Glenna Matthews, "Just a House-
wife" (New York, 1987). Elsa Barkley Brown, "Womanist Consciousness: Maggie Lena Walker and the
Independent Order of Saint Luke," Signs (Spring 1989), pp. 610-633. Jacqueline Anne Rouse, Lugenia

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72 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

Burns Hope: Black Southern Reformer (Athens, 1989). Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Daughters of Sorrow:
Attitudes Toward Black Women, 1880-1920 (New York, 1990). See also: James Oliver Horton, "Free-
dom's Yoke: Gender Conventions Among Antebellum Free Blacks," Feminist Studies (Spring 1986), pp.
51-76.

9 White, Ar'n't I a Woman, p. 22.
10 In 1910 black women were nearly 40% of the black work force, according to census data. Further,
of 3,680,536 black females 10 years of age and older 2,013,081 were employed in 1910. U.S. Census
Bureau, The Negro Population in the United States, 1790-1915, pp. 517-521. Phyllis A. Wallace, Black
Women in the Labor Force (Cambridge, 1980), p. 7 reports that black and other women of color were
33.9% of the non-white labor force in 1910.
Willard B. Gatewood in Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880-1920 (Bloomington, Indiana, 1990)
contains many references to middle and upper class black women working outside their own homes. e.g.,
Josephine Bruce, wife of Senator Blanche K. Bruce, worked although a sizable family fortune made this
unnecessary (pp. 37, 44, 241).
11 The education of blacks in Illinois is discussed in Robert L. McCaul, The Black Struggle for Public
Schooling in Nineteenth-Century Illinois (Carbondale, Illinois, 1987). See also: James D. Anderson, The
Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1988).
12 See for example Linda K. Kerber, Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary
America (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1980), chapters 7 & 9. Matthews, "Just a Housewife", pp. 35-65. Mary
Beth Norton, Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800 (Bos-
ton, 1980).
18 Moses Dickson, Manual of the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor
(Glasgow, Missouri, 1907), p. 8.
14 Minutes, Mount Olive Baptist Association (DuQuoin, 1885), pp. 5-6.

15 Ibid., (Carbondale, 1910), p. 24.
16 Minutes, Wood River Baptist Association (Peoria, 1902), p. 20.
17 Minutes, Twenty-Ninth Session of the Illinois Annual Conference of the African Methodist Episco

pal Church (Sparta, 1900), pp. 27-28.
18 Elizabeth Lindsay Davis, Lifting As They Climb: A History of the National Association of Col

Women (Washington D.C., 1933) indicated throughout the book that education was a focus of attention
for the NACW.

19 Forum (Springfield), April 14, 1906.
20 Reprinted in the Forum, May 19, 1906.
21 William T. Alexander, History of the Colored Race in America (New Orleans, 1888), p. 595.
22 Davis, Lifting, p. 15.

28 Minutes, Wood River Baptist Association (Champaign, 1909), p. 26.
24 Ibid., (Alton, 1894), p. 70.
25 Palladium (St. Louis), February 23, 1907.
26 The manuscript censuses, state board of education records, and local data are available for man
Illinois localities at the Illinois State Archives, Springfield and in the Illinois Regional Depository

(IRAD) at various locations in the state.
27 State Capital (Springfield), August 13, 1892.

28 Broad Ax (Chicago), July 14, 1900.
29 Chicago Defender, June 11, 1910.
80 State Capital (Springfield), September 17, 1892.
81 Ibid., October 28, 1892.
82 Broad Ax (Chicago), August 1, 1908.
88 Illinois Record (Springfield), July 9, 1898.
84 Minutes, Wood River Baptist Association (Champaign, 1909), p. 26.
85 Forum (Springfield), August 11, 1906.
86 Palladium (St. Louis), September 22, 1906.
87 Ibid., October 27, 1906.
38 Broad Ax (Chicago), May 26, 1900.
se Davis, Lifting, pp. 139-143.
40 Palladium (St. Louis), March 2, 1907.

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BLACK IDEALS OF WOMANHOOD 73

41 Ibid., March 2, 1907 and August 12, 1905.
42 Forum (Springfield), May 12, 1906.
4S Ibid., May 26, 1906 and April 21, 1906. The paper may have been called the Quincy Advent.
44 Biographical sketches of many prominent black women are included in Davis, Lifting, pp. 163-187.
Wanda A. Hendricks, "The Politics of Race: Black Women in Illinois, 1890-1920" (Ph. D. Dissertation:
Purdue University, 1990), pp. 30-62 discusses Williams and Wells-Barnett at some length.
45 Illinois Record (Springfield), February 25, 1899.
46 Palladium (St. Louis), October 2, 1905. A Recent biography of Terrell is Beverly Washington
Jones, Quest for Equality: The Life and Writings of Mary Eliza Church Terrell, 1863-1954 (New York,
1990).
47 Broad Ax (Chicago), December 1, 1900.
48 Ibid.
49 Forum (Springfield), May 19, 1906.

50 Broad Ax (Chicago), August 26, 1899.
51 Forum (Springfield), June 9, 1906.
52 Ida B. Wells-Barnett, The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells (Chicago, 1970), p. xix. The lif

social activism of Wells-Barnett is discussed in Mildred I. Thompson, Ida B. Wells-Barnett: An Explora-
tory Study of an American Black Woman, 1893-1930 (New York, 1990).

6S Minutes, Wood River Baptist Association (Alton, 1894), p. 68.
54 Illinois Record (Springfield), May 7, 1898.
66 Davis, Lifting, pp. 186-187.
56 Broad Ax (Chicago), July 15, 1899.
57 Forum (Springfield), August, 18, 1906.
58 Broad Ax (Chicago), September 1, 1900.
69 Ibid., November 18, 1899.
60 Ibid., July 7, 1900.
61 Ibid.

62 Palladium (St. Louis), November 10, 1906.
63 Broad Ax (Chicago), February 3, 1900.
64 Minutes, Wood River Baptist Association (Decatur, 1910), pp. 74-75.
65 Ibid., Alton, 1908, pp. 68-69.
66 Broad Ax (Chicago), December 22, 1900.
67 Palladium (St. Louis), February 23, 1907.
68 Ibid., March 2, 1907.
69 James R. Barrett, Work and Community in the Jungle: Chicago's Packinghouse Workers, 1894-

1922 (Urbana, Illinois, 1987); Sarah Deutsch, No Separate Refuge: Culture, Class and Gender on an
Anglo-Hispanic Frontier in the American Southwest, 1880-1940 (New York, 1987); Christine Stansell,
City of Women: Sex and Class in New York, 1789-1860 (New York, 1986).

70 Jacqueline Anne Rouse, Lugenia Burns Hope: Black Southern Reformer (Athens, Georgia, 1989);
Elsa Barkley Brown, "Womanist Consciousness: Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of St.
Luke." Signs Spring 1989, pp. 610-633.

71 Wanda A. Hendricks, "To Be a Colored Woman: Fannie Barrier Williams in the Age of Accommo-
dation" and Elaine M. Smith, "Mary McLeod Bethune as College President: Coping with Harsher Real-
ities, 1923-1935." Both papers were delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Social and
Behavioral Scientists in Nashville, Tennessee, March 22, 1991. See also Hendricks, "The Politics of
Race," pp. 30-52.

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