Thanks to all the great folks who showed up at the St. Helena Library today to hear me chat about Laura Towne. Here's a more formal account of what we talked about. For all of her adult life (and much of her childhood as
well), Laura Towne had known that she did not fit in with the society around
her. If someone had told her that in 150
years she would be touted as an example of a woman who made a permanent
difference in the world, she would not have believed it. Nor would she have believed that anyone would
ever write a book about her life. She
knew she was different; she just didn’t know that being different was going to
make her important. I see her as an example of how women can change their
world. She deserves to be honored during
Women’s History Month. Here’s why. Laura’s world demanded that women fulfill one of two roles
in society. She could either marry and
become a dutiful wife and doting mother, or she could remain in the family home
as the caretaker of her parents, the support of her brothers and sisters, the
family anchor. Laura wanted no part of either one. She could not bring herself to be subordinate
to a man, especially one who was not as intelligent or capable as she was. She loved children but wanted to encourage
them to flee the nest, not hover over them as protector. Her mother died when
she was nine, her father when she was in her early twenties, so there was no
need to take on the role of caregiver.
And she had no interest in encouraging her siblings to lean on her any
more than they already did. She cherished a close friendship with another woman
whom she considered her equal in every way.
She dreamed of sharing their lives, but knew that while Philadelphia
society might allow two women to live together, they would never give their
relationship the status of family. She thought she would always live a solitary
existence, without the bonds of love and affection that sustained other people. Laura wanted a career, even though she knew that there were
few career options open to her. She
petitioned for years to be allowed to attend medical school, and finally found
admission in Philadelphia’s first medical school for women. There she was allowed to attend academic
classes and lectures, but barred from any clinical experience on the grounds
that women should never see the body of a man other than their husbands or
children. Frustrated with the lack of contact with patients, she gave up her
pursuit of a medical degree and turned to the study of homeopathic medicine,
which put her even further outside the boundaries of acceptable careers. Most trained
doctors looked down on homeopathy as quackery, but Laura found much to
like. It allowed her to be in close
contact with her patients; treating them as individuals, not cases; offering comfort and palliative care;
and avoiding the harshness of dangerous medicines, quick amputation, or
blood-letting. Laura was a non-conformist when it came to religion,
too. In a city involved with evangelism
in all its many forms, as well as a city that had been founded by Quakers,
Laura was a Unitarian. What was that? The question bothered other people, too. Unitarians believed in one God. Only one, not a Trinity, which seemed to make
them non-Christians. They disliked
dogma, official church doctrine, and any and creeds. They believed religion should be a quiet and
private affair. They were ethical and
reasonable, believers in free will, and flexible in their religious
observances. They were particularly
irritating to traditional Christians because they denied the divinity of Jesus
while following his teachings more closely than most Christians did. Finally, there was the matter of politics. Women did not have the right to vote and were not expected to have political
opinions. They certainly were not
expected to speak out about their views. But Laura was an abolitionist, and an
outspoken one at that. She was not
afraid to express her hatred of slavery and demanded equality for all people,
including women. Abolitionists were
usually northerners, but they were no more popular in the north they were in
the south. Workers feared an influx of
free blacks would take away their jobs, while the wealthy feared attacks from
those who had much less than they did. Laura the abolitionist was one of a very
few uppity women who were hated by nearly everyone. I'll post the second half of the talk tomorrow, so please come back then. |
