Arkansas women were active in their communities - participating in religion, the arts and sports.
Religion
As elsewhere in the “Bible Belt,” religion plays a dominant role in the lives of many Arkansans. Women in the state long have claimed active roles in Arkansas’s varied religions. Through mission work, education and fund raising, women’s efforts helped Arkansas churches, temples, and synagogues grow and change during the twentieth century.
Catholic women, both religious and lay, contributed to the development of schools, such as Mount Saint Mary’s Academy in Little Rock, and health care facilities such as Saint Edward’s Hospital in Fort Smith. Sister Margaret Vincent Blandford served as president and CEO of Saint Vincent’s Hospital in Little Rock for nearly sixteen years. During this time, Sister Margaret addressed the problems of the changing role of health care and hospital administration.
Within the numerous Protestant denominations, women raised money for new church construction and contributed to their communities through mission projects. The Women’s Missionary Society of the First United Methodist Church in Little Rock contributed money in the 1930s for a new organ and redecoration of the sanctuary. Fund raising efforts like this one are not unlike those in other communities throughout the state.
Throughout the century, Jewish women remained active in educational and civic affairs through their involvement in the Council of Jewish Women. One example of this involvement was their support of Jewish refugees escaping Central and Eastern Europe during World War II. Jewish women played a pivotal role in the Women’s Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (WEC) following the 1957 Central High Integration Crisis. Their numbers in the WEC far outnumbered the percentage of Jewish women in the community at large.
As the century progressed and women gained more equality in society, they began to demand equal status with men, both as religious leaders and in their secular realm. Since World War II, women have increasingly sought appointments to high-ranking committees and boards of religious organizations and institutions. While some Protestant denominations, such as the Episcopalians, Methodists, and the Church of the Nazarene, have recognized women's ability to serve as ministers, others such as the Southern Baptists and fundamentalist groups struggle with the issue to this day. Other religions, such as The Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints have more prescribed roles for women in the church according to their own tenants.
The Episcopal Church ordained Reverend Peggy Bosmyer in 1977, making her the first female Episcopal priest in Arkansas. Reverend Helen Jean Pope Burton was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church in 1986. Then in 1995 she was appointed District Superintendent of the Little Rock Conference, becoming the first woman to hold that position. She is currently pastor at First United Methodist Church in Little Rock. Ironically, while women have assumed leadership positions in many churches, more demands on their time in secular areas have resulted in a decline in their participation in women’s religious organizations.
For more information:
Hinson, E. Glenn. A History of Baptists in Arkansas, 1818-1978. Little Rock, AR: Arkansas State Convention, 1979.
Ignatius, L. Faye. “Time-Line: Women in the American Baptist Churches.” Foundations 24 (1981): 221-235.
Lawhon, Sharon Leding. “Women: Leading and Planning Worship.” Baptist History and Heritage 31 (1996): 48-58.
LeMaster, Carolyn Gray. A Corner of the Tapestry: A History of the Jewish Experience in Arkansas, 1820s-1990s. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 1994.
Lester, Woodie Daniel. The History of the Negro and Methodism in Arkansas and Oklahoma: The Little Rock-Southwest Conference, 1838-1972. Little Rock, AR: The Little Rock-Southwest Conference, 1979.
McBeth, H. Leon. “Perspectives on Women in Baptist Life.” Baptist History and Heritage 22 (1987): 4-11.
McDonald, Margaret Simms. “Churchwomen in Arkansas,” in White Already to Harvest: The Episcopal Church in Arkansas, 1838-1971. Sewanee, TN: University Press, 1975.
Rice, Kathryn Donham. A History of the First United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1831-1981.Little Rock, AR: Parkhurst-Eaton, Publishers, 1980.
Vernon, Walter N. Methodism in Arkansas, 1816-1976. Little Rock, AR: Joint Committee for the History of Arkansas Methodism, 1976.
Williams, C. Fred, et al. A System and Plan: Arkansas Baptist State Convention, 1848-1998. Franklin, TN: Providence House Publishers, 1998.
Woods, James M. “Sisters, Schools and Service: Some Catholic Contributions to Arkansas, 1838-1992,” inMission and Memory: A History of the Catholic Church in Arkansas. Little Rock: Diocese of Little Rock, 1993.
Yarbrough, Slayden. “The Southern Baptist Spirit, 1845-1995.” Baptist History and Heritage 30 (1995): 25-34.
Arts
Arkansas is fortunate to have numerous nationally and regionally known artists, actresses, and writers as native daughters. The works of art, films, and books produced by Arkansas women have contributed to the cultural heritage of Arkansas and the United States. The national attention given to these women shed a positive light on their home state.
Jenny Delony, an internationally recognized portrait painter, became one of the first women to exhibit at the National Academy of Art when she became a member in 1903. More recently, Maria Regnier is one of only a handful of distinguished female silversmiths in the country. Catherine Tharp Altvater was a nationally recognized watercolorist from Little Rock whose works are in the collection of the Modern Museum of Art.She was the first woman to hold office in the American Watercolor Society.
In the area of film, Arkansan and Little Rock native Mary Steenburgen won the 1980 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in Melvin and Howard. She also appeared opposite Steve Martin inParenthood and opposite Tom Hanks in Philadelphia. Another Little Rock native Julie Adams made a name for herself in the B-movie cult classic The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Melinda Dillon from Hope was nominated twice for an Academy Award in the best supporting actress category for her roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice. Tess Harper, born Tessie Jean Washam in Mammoth Spring, was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in Crimes of the Heart. She has also appeared in Silkwood with Meryl Streep and Cher and Tender Mercies with Robert Duvall.
In the literary world, Hot Springs native Shirley Abbott has written three books about growing up in Arkansas: Womenfolks: Growing Up Down South, The Bookmaker’s Daughter: A Memory Unbound, andLove’s Apprentice: The Romantic Education of a Modern Woman. Maya Angelou was raised by her grandmother in Stamps and later wrote about her childhood in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She has also written numerous volumes of poetry. Ms. Angelou was selected by President-elect Bill Clinton to compose and recite her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at his 1993 inauguration.
Helen Gurley Brown, a Little Rock native, began her career at a copywriter. Three years after the publication of her first book, Sex and the Single Girl, she was recruited by the Hearst Corporation to breath life into its failing magazine Cosmopolitan and the "Cosmo Girl" was born. She helped increase circulation, making Cosmopolitan one of the top women’s magazines today.
For More Information:
Sutherlin, Diann. The Arkansas Handbook: A Fascinating, Fact-Filled Guide to the Natural State. Little Rock: Fly By Night Press, 1996.
Arkansas Press Women. Horizons: 100 Arkansas Women of Achievement. Little Rock: Rose Publishing, 1980.
Sports
“My family didn’t have the money to send me to college; I always knew I‘d have to get a scholarship. Basketball was the only way I could achieve my career goals.”
The numbers of women participating in sports increased during the twentieth century. This trend occurred throughout the United States and Arkansas was no exception. Female athletes have struggled and continue to struggle with their place in the sports community. Traditionally, women have excelled at individual sports such as tennis and figure skating, but now they are making advancements in team sports previously dominated by men such as soccer and basketball. Even sports journalism has seen an increase in women reporting from the sidelines of college and professional stadiums and arenas.
Early in the century social convention limited women to involvement in only a few athletic pursuits. Male doctors frequently gave infertility as one of the main reasons women should not participate in sports. Generally, women who did participate in sports were expected to curtail or quit their activities once they reached marrying, and consequently child bearing, status. The female participants in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League exemplify this trend. Two former baseball players, Delores “Dolly” Brumfield White and Mary Lou “ML” Studnicka Caden retired to Arkansas. Similar to other women, they used sports to finance their education. Today American women participate in all levels of individual and team sports from elementary school to adult professionals.
While sports provided one type of recreational activity for women, the majority of Arkansas women have enjoyed other leisure activities such as card playing, gardening and needlework at one time or another. Some of these hobbies, such as book clubs and quilting bees, foster a sense of community among women and allow them to socialize with friends and family. In the African American community especially, quilting bees enable older women to pass the tradition of quilting onto younger generations while women work together to produce decorative and useful pieces of art.
As elsewhere in the “Bible Belt,” religion plays a dominant role in the lives of many Arkansans. Women in the state long have claimed active roles in Arkansas’s varied religions. Through mission work, education and fund raising, women’s efforts helped Arkansas churches, temples, and synagogues grow and change during the twentieth century.
Catholic women, both religious and lay, contributed to the development of schools, such as Mount Saint Mary’s Academy in Little Rock, and health care facilities such as Saint Edward’s Hospital in Fort Smith. Sister Margaret Vincent Blandford served as president and CEO of Saint Vincent’s Hospital in Little Rock for nearly sixteen years. During this time, Sister Margaret addressed the problems of the changing role of health care and hospital administration.
Within the numerous Protestant denominations, women raised money for new church construction and contributed to their communities through mission projects. The Women’s Missionary Society of the First United Methodist Church in Little Rock contributed money in the 1930s for a new organ and redecoration of the sanctuary. Fund raising efforts like this one are not unlike those in other communities throughout the state.
Throughout the century, Jewish women remained active in educational and civic affairs through their involvement in the Council of Jewish Women. One example of this involvement was their support of Jewish refugees escaping Central and Eastern Europe during World War II. Jewish women played a pivotal role in the Women’s Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (WEC) following the 1957 Central High Integration Crisis. Their numbers in the WEC far outnumbered the percentage of Jewish women in the community at large.
As the century progressed and women gained more equality in society, they began to demand equal status with men, both as religious leaders and in their secular realm. Since World War II, women have increasingly sought appointments to high-ranking committees and boards of religious organizations and institutions. While some Protestant denominations, such as the Episcopalians, Methodists, and the Church of the Nazarene, have recognized women's ability to serve as ministers, others such as the Southern Baptists and fundamentalist groups struggle with the issue to this day. Other religions, such as The Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints have more prescribed roles for women in the church according to their own tenants.
The Episcopal Church ordained Reverend Peggy Bosmyer in 1977, making her the first female Episcopal priest in Arkansas. Reverend Helen Jean Pope Burton was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church in 1986. Then in 1995 she was appointed District Superintendent of the Little Rock Conference, becoming the first woman to hold that position. She is currently pastor at First United Methodist Church in Little Rock. Ironically, while women have assumed leadership positions in many churches, more demands on their time in secular areas have resulted in a decline in their participation in women’s religious organizations.
For more information:
Hinson, E. Glenn. A History of Baptists in Arkansas, 1818-1978. Little Rock, AR: Arkansas State Convention, 1979.
Ignatius, L. Faye. “Time-Line: Women in the American Baptist Churches.” Foundations 24 (1981): 221-235.
Lawhon, Sharon Leding. “Women: Leading and Planning Worship.” Baptist History and Heritage 31 (1996): 48-58.
LeMaster, Carolyn Gray. A Corner of the Tapestry: A History of the Jewish Experience in Arkansas, 1820s-1990s. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 1994.
Lester, Woodie Daniel. The History of the Negro and Methodism in Arkansas and Oklahoma: The Little Rock-Southwest Conference, 1838-1972. Little Rock, AR: The Little Rock-Southwest Conference, 1979.
McBeth, H. Leon. “Perspectives on Women in Baptist Life.” Baptist History and Heritage 22 (1987): 4-11.
McDonald, Margaret Simms. “Churchwomen in Arkansas,” in White Already to Harvest: The Episcopal Church in Arkansas, 1838-1971. Sewanee, TN: University Press, 1975.
Rice, Kathryn Donham. A History of the First United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1831-1981.Little Rock, AR: Parkhurst-Eaton, Publishers, 1980.
Vernon, Walter N. Methodism in Arkansas, 1816-1976. Little Rock, AR: Joint Committee for the History of Arkansas Methodism, 1976.
Williams, C. Fred, et al. A System and Plan: Arkansas Baptist State Convention, 1848-1998. Franklin, TN: Providence House Publishers, 1998.
Woods, James M. “Sisters, Schools and Service: Some Catholic Contributions to Arkansas, 1838-1992,” inMission and Memory: A History of the Catholic Church in Arkansas. Little Rock: Diocese of Little Rock, 1993.
Yarbrough, Slayden. “The Southern Baptist Spirit, 1845-1995.” Baptist History and Heritage 30 (1995): 25-34.
Arts
Arkansas is fortunate to have numerous nationally and regionally known artists, actresses, and writers as native daughters. The works of art, films, and books produced by Arkansas women have contributed to the cultural heritage of Arkansas and the United States. The national attention given to these women shed a positive light on their home state.
Jenny Delony, an internationally recognized portrait painter, became one of the first women to exhibit at the National Academy of Art when she became a member in 1903. More recently, Maria Regnier is one of only a handful of distinguished female silversmiths in the country. Catherine Tharp Altvater was a nationally recognized watercolorist from Little Rock whose works are in the collection of the Modern Museum of Art.She was the first woman to hold office in the American Watercolor Society.
In the area of film, Arkansan and Little Rock native Mary Steenburgen won the 1980 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in Melvin and Howard. She also appeared opposite Steve Martin inParenthood and opposite Tom Hanks in Philadelphia. Another Little Rock native Julie Adams made a name for herself in the B-movie cult classic The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Melinda Dillon from Hope was nominated twice for an Academy Award in the best supporting actress category for her roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice. Tess Harper, born Tessie Jean Washam in Mammoth Spring, was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in Crimes of the Heart. She has also appeared in Silkwood with Meryl Streep and Cher and Tender Mercies with Robert Duvall.
In the literary world, Hot Springs native Shirley Abbott has written three books about growing up in Arkansas: Womenfolks: Growing Up Down South, The Bookmaker’s Daughter: A Memory Unbound, andLove’s Apprentice: The Romantic Education of a Modern Woman. Maya Angelou was raised by her grandmother in Stamps and later wrote about her childhood in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She has also written numerous volumes of poetry. Ms. Angelou was selected by President-elect Bill Clinton to compose and recite her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at his 1993 inauguration.
Helen Gurley Brown, a Little Rock native, began her career at a copywriter. Three years after the publication of her first book, Sex and the Single Girl, she was recruited by the Hearst Corporation to breath life into its failing magazine Cosmopolitan and the "Cosmo Girl" was born. She helped increase circulation, making Cosmopolitan one of the top women’s magazines today.
For More Information:
Sutherlin, Diann. The Arkansas Handbook: A Fascinating, Fact-Filled Guide to the Natural State. Little Rock: Fly By Night Press, 1996.
Arkansas Press Women. Horizons: 100 Arkansas Women of Achievement. Little Rock: Rose Publishing, 1980.
Sports
“My family didn’t have the money to send me to college; I always knew I‘d have to get a scholarship. Basketball was the only way I could achieve my career goals.”
The numbers of women participating in sports increased during the twentieth century. This trend occurred throughout the United States and Arkansas was no exception. Female athletes have struggled and continue to struggle with their place in the sports community. Traditionally, women have excelled at individual sports such as tennis and figure skating, but now they are making advancements in team sports previously dominated by men such as soccer and basketball. Even sports journalism has seen an increase in women reporting from the sidelines of college and professional stadiums and arenas.
Early in the century social convention limited women to involvement in only a few athletic pursuits. Male doctors frequently gave infertility as one of the main reasons women should not participate in sports. Generally, women who did participate in sports were expected to curtail or quit their activities once they reached marrying, and consequently child bearing, status. The female participants in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League exemplify this trend. Two former baseball players, Delores “Dolly” Brumfield White and Mary Lou “ML” Studnicka Caden retired to Arkansas. Similar to other women, they used sports to finance their education. Today American women participate in all levels of individual and team sports from elementary school to adult professionals.
While sports provided one type of recreational activity for women, the majority of Arkansas women have enjoyed other leisure activities such as card playing, gardening and needlework at one time or another. Some of these hobbies, such as book clubs and quilting bees, foster a sense of community among women and allow them to socialize with friends and family. In the African American community especially, quilting bees enable older women to pass the tradition of quilting onto younger generations while women work together to produce decorative and useful pieces of art.