Grace Greenwood and the Tradition of American Women's Travel Writing

Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1997 Prodigal Daughters and Pilgrims in Petticoats: Grace Greenwood and the Tradition of American Women's Travel Writing. Paula Kathryn Garrett Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Garrett, Paula Kathryn, "Prodigal Daughters and Pilgrims in Petticoats: Grace Greenwood and the Tradition of American Women's Travel Writing." (1997). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6567. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6567 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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PRODIGAL DAUGHTERS AND PILGRIMS IN PETTICOATS GRACE GREENWOOD AND THE TRADITION OF AMERICAN WOMEN'S TRAVEL WRITING A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of English by Paula K. Garrett B.S. Ed., Baylor University, 1989 M.A., Baylor University, 1992 December 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9820721 Copyright 1998 by Garrett, Paula Kathryn Ail rights reserved. UMI Microform 9820721 Copyright 1998, 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. Grace Greenwood (Sara Jane Clarke Lippincott) Grace Greenwood Collection (#7081) Clifton Waller Barrett Library- Special Collections Department University of Virginia Library ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. For Mary Rome for fostering prodigal daughters iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. "Nothing educates like travel." Grace Greenwood, New York Times, 13 January 1873 "Besides, women among themselves begin by laughing." Luce Irigaray, This Sex Which Is Not One "I know it is a good book, for I wrote it myself." Grace Greenwood, New York Times, 22 March 1873 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgments To Carol Mattingly, the director of this dissertation, I am infinitely grateful. I cannot adequately express my thanks to her for introducing me to the works of nineteenth century women writers and especially Grace Greenwood. In her class, it is no exaggeration to say, my entire view of history, and the making of history, was forever altered. Her work of recovery, an important reconsideration of women's temperance rhetoric and the many levels on which these rhetors addressed woman' s rights, shapes my own under standing of the radical ways women worked to better their own lives and the lives of others. Her ideas and scholarship inform my own on so many levels that it is impossible to sufficiently attribute all of her contributions to this work. For her direction, collaboration, and enthusiasm, but more importantly for her friendship, I am thankful. And I thank her for reminding me of some songs I had almost forgotten. To Peggy Whitman Prenshaw, who from my very first visit to LSU has offered steady encouragement, I am also grateful. Her interest in my work and in my life, even when the two seemed incongruent, buoy my spirits at every turn. Her own important scholarship, in particular that on Southern womanhood, help me to better understand not only the texts I read but also the women I know, including myself. Robin Roberts' s encouragement to further contextualize Grace Greenwood helped me to more clearly see connections I v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. had not even considered. In addition, her writing on women's use of humor in the twentieth century gave me a framework in which to consider women's use of humor in the nineteenth. Emily Toth's work on Kate Chopin marks an important work in the recovery and reassessment of one of the most significant writers from the nineteenth century. On several occasions, when my own disbelief that history could ever have so thoroughly forgotten the works of women writers returned to me, I looked to her work which considers the evidence of just such critical oversights with regard to Chopin. In addition, her honest input about the difficulty of biographical research and her sense of humor about the entire work of women in the academy serve as both encouragement and advice. Kathleen Rountree' s perspective from her own discipline and the perennial question of the worth of women's work helped to frame my discussion on Greenwood's eminent importance in her day and the need to recognize her in ours. In addition to my committee members at LSU, I also thank numerous people at my other school. Most importantly, all of the women in the Office of Adult Learning at Millsaps College helped to ease some of the tension of my dual role as both teacher at Millsaps and student at LSU. Harrylyn Sallis, Janet Langley, Laurissa Henderson, Mary Markley, Nola Gibson, and Patsy Weeks all offered encouragement to my work. Aimee Primeaux meticulously copied countless columns vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. from microfilm for me. Frances Coker, who was kind enough to tap me to continue her work with adult students, is an inspiration, both professionally and personally. More colleagues at Millsaps deserve my thanks. Michaels Galchinsky and Gleason each offered resounding enthusiasm for my rediscovery of Greenwood. Gleason's "Hoorah, if Grace Greenwood weren't true, you would have to make her up" gave words to my own feeling towards Grace. Galchinsky's appreciation of this Grace was apparent from the start, and his willingness to lend insights from his own work of recovery, in particular of Grace Aguilar, eased many of the tensions I felt in facing some of the more difficult truths of Greenwood's life. Anne MacMaster's encouragement of my project and her respect for my "time with Grace" are also appreciated. And to the entire Works in Progress group, which has helped to create a climate of interest and support across disciplines at Millsaps, I am thankful. The basketball following those sessions, Whipped after W.I.P., provided much needed play time and fostered important camaraderie. Janice Holman's and Lydia Dell's shared interest in writing also fueled my efforts. Students at Millsaps have also contributed to my work in ways they cannot even imagine. In particular, the adult students in my first interdisciplinary course focused on the nineteenth century added to my own understanding of the period. Women's studies students, who hilariously balked at my suggestions about the poetry I assigned them, gave vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. evidence to my under standing that we see what we are looking for when we reconsider nineteenth century women. And all of my students and advisees in the ADP program lend me encouragement. My work with them, the pleasure of listening to their various stories of returning to school and succeeding against incredible odds, inevitably sends me back to my other work with renewed faith that the balancing act can

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