(Originally Published Sunday, February 2, 2014 – Blogger: One Daughter’s Point of View)
Yesterday I attended another chapter’s meeting to present a program as a Correspondent Docent for the DAR Museum. I blogged about the DAR Museum earlier.
I presented a program called Fashioning the New Woman based on a recent exhibit at the DAR Museum in Washington, D.C. I find this a very interesting program to present – not just for the fashion and evolution of women and their activities in the early 1900s – but also for the way it emphasizes the determination women of that era must have possessed.
These were women who changed the role of women, or more specifically what others perceived to be roles women could play in society. They were more active in social issues and their fashion reflects this changing lifestyle. It’s especially interesting when you consider that despite the ongoing evolution (some would say revolution) in women’s fashions, these were the era of women who chartered our chapter and achieved so much in our early chapter history.
These women in their elegant dresses (elegant day suits with beautifully stylish hats – of course) managed to discover and mark the Daniel Boone Trail in 1913-1915 through four different states. Some of the sites were rugged and all had a public unveiling. Our own Kate Bitting Reynolds and Lucy Bramlette Patterson were active in this effort. These women advocated social changes, pushed for public libraries, emphasis on North Carolina history education as well as American education and supported the war effort during World War I. This must have been both a challenging as well as amazing and inspiring time in history to be a woman – a New Woman.
A Robynn’s Chirps 