Annie Wood: a Portrait Jo Ann Mervis Hofheimer Old Dominion University

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Annie Wood: a Portrait Jo Ann Mervis Hofheimer Old Dominion University Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Institute for the Humanities Theses Institute for the Humanities Winter 1996 Annie Wood: A Portrait Jo Ann Mervis Hofheimer Old Dominion University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/humanities_etds Part of the American Literature Commons, United States History Commons, Women's History Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Hofheimer, Jo Ann M.. "Annie Wood: A Portrait" (1996). Master of Arts (MA), thesis, Humanities, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/7ttg-g246 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/humanities_etds/12 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Institute for the Humanities at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Institute for the Humanities Theses by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ANNIE WOOD: A PORTRAIT by JO ANN MERVIS HOFHEMER B.S. May 1970, Old Dominion University A Thesis Submittted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS HUMANITIES OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY December 1996 Approved by: DouglaS G. Greene (Member) snspn C. Harrison (Member) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1383133 Copyright 1996 by Hofheimer, Jo Ann Mervis All rights reserved. UMI Microform 1383133 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright © 1996 by Jo Ann Mervis Hofheimer All rights reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT ANNIE WOOD: A PORTRAIT. Jo Ann Mervis Hofheimer Old Dominion University, 1996 Director: Dr. Michael Pearson Co-Chairs of Advisory Committee: Dr. Douglas Greene Dr. Jefferson Harrison In 1871, Anna Cogswell Wood and Irene FCirke Leache founded a school for girls in Norfolk, Virginia which had a profound influence on the community. The Leache- Wood Seminary became Norfolk’s center for cultural pursuits. After the death of Irene Leache in 1900, Annie Wood established a memorial to perpetuate her friend’s interest in literature, music, art, drama, and spiritual studies. Wood began a number of cultural programs which grew to shape the cultural life of the town in remarkable ways, leading directly to the Virginia Symphony, the Norfolk Little Theater, the Irene Leache Memorial, the Norfolk Society of Arts, and The Chrysler Museum of Art. Wood published two novels, two memoirs of Irene Leache, two books of essays, and a book of dramatic sketches. She also wrote a number of pensees, in album format, sixteen of which are in the collection of the Irene Leache Memorial. Her writings trace the development of an independent Victorian woman who closely observed the changes in society from the Civil War to World War II. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This study explores the life and times of Anna Cogswell Wood. In doing so, it also examines the enormous changes in education, the role of women, and the growth of the cultural arts in the South, and particularly in Norfolk. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To my family, past, present, andfuture a nd To the members of the Irene Leache Memorial, past, present, andfuture Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to a number of people for their suggestions and assistance with this study. For their enthusiasm and patience, and for sharing so many family documents, I am greatly indebted to Edith Brooke Robertson and Elizabeth Crawford Engle. The interest, support, and companionship of Catherine Lee Brinkley and Eleanor Ramsey Williamson never failed to provide encouragement when needed. Carter Grandy Scott’s early enthusiasm and continuing interest in each aspect of the study meant a great deal to me. To all five, thank you: your feel for history is surpassed only by your capacity for friendship. Thanks also to Peggy Haile and Carl Griffler of the Norfolk Public Library, to thee calm and agreeable librarians at Old Dominion University, and to the patient staff of the Chrysler Museum. I offer special thanks to the members of my thesis committee, Michael Pearson, Douglas Greene, and Jefferson Harrison, for their many helpful suggestions and careful reading of the text. Their guidance has been a great benefit. My husband and children have, without doubt, heard more about Annie Wood than they would have chosen to know, and have yet remained steadfast in their encouragement and support. They have my love, always. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................................. vii PROLOGUE ....................................................................... viii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 1 2. FAMILY MATTERS.......................................................................................................9 3. WINCHESTER........................................................................................................... 29 4. NORFOLK......................................................................................................................48 5. TRAVELS................................................................................................................... 72 6. MEMORIALS............................................................................................................. 94 7. ITALY ............................................................................................................................120 8. LEGACY ................................................................................................................... 144 NOTES................................................................................................................................ 165 WORKS CITED................................................................................................................. 184 APPENDICES A. CHRONOLOGY...................................................................................................... 193 B. PRESIDENTS OF THE IRENE LEACHE MEMORIAL..................................... 197 VITA .....................................................................................................................................198 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Wood Family................................................................................................................. 12 2. Cogswell Family............................................................................................................21 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. viii PROLOGUE The two women arrived in Norfolk in 1871 on a typical August day, sultry and still. They had traveled for seventeen hours by train from the relative cool o f the Valley o f Virginia, leaving far behind the rolling hills o f Winchester fo r the flat Tidewater coast. They had been asked to establish a school for girls in a town just awakening after the Civil War, where education had necessarily been set aside fo r more compelling concerns. They came with a promise and a plan, and little else. Their long Victorian dresses only exacerbated the intensive heat. The only stir o f air seemed to come from the passing wheels o f carriages and carts, but the clop o f horses going by sent unwelcome waves o f dust flying onto shoes, skin, face, and hair. Mule- drawn wagons were stacked high with bales o f cotton or tobacco. Truckfarmers from the outlying counties bringing vegetables to sell in the city market jostledfor room amid the chickens, pigs, fish, and oysters being hauled to wharves and stalls. Boats o f every de­ scription lined the harbor, delivering lumber and supplies, waiting to take on goods, and transporting people and merchandise by the fastest means available, over the waters of Hampton Roads. The port was bustling with activity since the war; economic recovery seemed tangible. The town o f20,000 was poised for sustained growth. The permeating odor o f salt and seafood reminded the travelers how far they had come from the Blue Ridge Mountains. The narrow streets smelled o f a small town's odors: dust, manure, peanut shells, and grape skins carelessly discarded in the road The old Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. houses, set close to the curb, were sheltered by huge trees planted before the Revolution. Hitching posts lined Main Street, which was still in disrepair from the war years, a pit­ ted, rutted, lane o f mud. Always essentially a port town, and always at the end o f the line, Norfolk was working hard to achieve a prominent
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