Women played key role in settling area

May 14, 2023

Our History

Violet Taylor Helper from Shoals is pictured here standing in her tobacco field.

Mount Airy Museum of Regional History

The sunlight is illuminating this mountain woman spinning. Spinning and weaving were some of the most time-consuming jobs women had in the back country. This picture was taken from a photo belonging to The North Carolina Collection, University of NC Library at Chapel Hill.

Mount Airy Museum of Regional History

A young boy sits looking at photos while his mother works on some needlepoint.

Mount Airy Museum of Regional History

Life in the backcountry and foothills of North Carolina was hard. Most carved their living out of the land daily, toiling despite weather, aliments, or resources.

The common narrative of early North Carolina is of a man providing for his family; his wife and 2.5 kids. The women and children are seen as afterthoughts, only serving as supporting characters to the male storyline.

If we dive deeper we can see that history is not so black and white and that the fairer sex was heartier and more resilient than previously given credit for. In celebration of Women's History Month take a deeper look into their lives.

Women settlers in Surry County braved the wilderness with their families to create a life. Finding fertile land, water, and space to hold livestock was of the utmost importance. Once settled, men secured their holdings and hunted for food, and women served as the keepers of the home, an extensive job.

These women were not only caretakers and cooks but also seamstresses, gardeners, healers, weavers, candle makers, farm hands and so much more. They worked from sun up to sun down to keep the household together.

On top of all this work, women had little to no rights. During this period women could not vote nor hold public office, had no money or wealth, could be subject to abuse with no justice, and legally had to identify with their husbands. Widows and unmarried women had more rights and privileges than that of the family wife.

It wasn't until 1868 that women were allowed to own their property as they had as a single woman, with the assent of their husbands of course. The Married Women's Property Act of 1870 secured women's wages or inheritance as their own without the discretion of a male counterpart.

In 1920 the 19th amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote. This, however, did not give African-American women the same rights, state laws still restricted Black Americans from voting via poll taxes and literary tests. It wasn't until the 1960s that women gained the right to open bank accounts.

Colonial women carried the knowledge of their ancestors to this new world creating a diversified culture like no other. Surrounded by frontier and unknown foliage, these women often learned from the matriarchal native populations as to the makeup and usage of their new homesteads. They were not afraid to get their hands dirty, while still staying demure for the society in which they lived.

These silent stars built a society and a new country that could have never been without them. North Carolina and Surry County are full of inspirational stories of women who persevered, stood tall, and carved out a remarkable life. Stop by the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History and learn some of their stories. Happy Women's History Month.

Emily Morgan is the guest services manager at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. She and her family live in Westfield. She can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 336-786-4478 x229