The Queen of American Agriculture

Phyllis Mattheis, Andrew G. Martin, Frederick Whitford

Description

Virginia Claypool Meredith's role in directly managing the affairs of a large and prosperous farm in east-central Indiana opened doors that were often closed to women in late nineteenth century America. Her status allowed her to campaign for the education of women, in general, and rural women, in particular. While striving to change society's expectations for women, she also gave voice to the important role of women in the home. A lifetime of dedication made Virginia Meredith "the most remarkable woman in Indiana" and the "Queen of American Agriculture." Meredith was also an integral part of the history of Purdue University. She was the first woman appointed to serve on the university's board of trustees, had a residence hall named in her honor, and worked with her adopted daughter, Mary L. Matthews, in creating the School of Home Economics, the predecessor of today's College of Consumer and Family Sciences.
Acknowledgments

Introduction

Farm and Family

1. A Hoosier Family’s Rise to Prominence

2. An Independent Woman Emerges

3. The Woman Farmer from Cambridge City

4. A Voice for Rural People

Community and Service

5. Empowering Women Through Club Work

6. The Lady Manager from Indiana at the Chicago World’s Fair

Educator and Advocate

7. Advancing the Science of Home Life

8. Purdue University’s First Woman Trustee

9. A Landmark for Veterans and a Home for Women

10. Farewell to the Grand Lady of Agriculture

Epilogue

Appendix 1: Complete Text of “Farm Life: Its Privileges and Possibilities”

Appendix 2: Complete Text of “Why Short-horns Are the Best Cattle for Indiana Farms”

Appendix 3: Complete Text of “The Relation of Women to the Columbian Exposition”

Appendix 4: Complete Text of “The Need of Special Training for Agricultural Pursuits”

Appendix 5: Complete Text of “Roads of Remembrance”

Appendix 6: Obituary of Virginia C. Meredith, Lafayette (Ind.) Journal and Courier

Appendix 7: Complete Text of “Mrs. Virginia Meredith,” Lafayette (Ind.) Journal and Courier

Notes

Sources

Index

Sujets

• Midwest
• Histoire
• Medio Oeste de Estados Unidos
• State
• Midwestern United States
• United States
• History
• Local
• Middle West

Informations

• Publié par: Purdue University Press
• Date de parution: 15 juillet 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781557539281
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

The Queen of American Agriculture
The Founders Series
The Queen of American Agriculture
A Biography of
Virginia Claypool Meredith

F REDERICK W HITFORD A NDREW G. M ARTIN P HYLLIS M ATTHEIS
Purdue University Press West Lafayette, Indiana
Copyright © 2008 by Purdue University All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
ISBN 978-1-55753-512-2 (special edition leather)
ISBN 978-1-55753-518-4 (hardcover with dust jacket)
Design by Dawn L. Minns
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Whitford, Fred, 1955-
The queen of American agriculture : a biography of Virginia Claypool Meredith / Frederick Whitford, Andrew G. Martin, and Phyllis B. Mattheis.
p. cm. -- (Founders series)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-55753-512-2
1. Meredith, Virginia Claypool, 1848-1936. 2. Women in agriculture-Indiana-Biography. I. Martin, Andrew G. II. Mattheis, Phyllis B. III. Title. IV. Series.
S417.M43W47 2008     630.92-dc22 2008005594
DEDICATION
This biography is dedicated to Purdue University Extension educators, campus Extension specialists, paraprofessionals, and volunteers who help others realize their potential, turn dreams into realities, and make the seemingly impossible possible. It is this extended Extension family who truly believes that education has no bounds in what it can do to improve the lives of Indiana’s citizens and their communities.

In honor of the memory of
Steve Salomon
May 18, 1957–August 13, 2007
We’ll never forget your love for Indiana agriculture.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Farm and Family
1 A Hoosier Family’s Rise to Prominence
2 An Independent Woman Emerges
3 The Woman Farmer from Cambridge City
4 A Voice for Rural People
Community and Service
5 Empowering Women Through Club Work
6 The Lady Manager from Indiana at the Chicago World’s Fair
Educator and Advocate
7 Advancing the Science of Home Life
8 Purdue University’s First Woman Trustee
9 A Landmark for Veterans and a Home for Women
10 Farewell to the Grand Lady of Agriculture
Epilogue
Appendix 1: Complete Text of “Farm Life: Its Privileges and Possibilities”
Appendix 2: Complete Text of “Why Short-horns Are the Best Cattle for Indiana Farms”
Appendix 3: Complete Text of “The Relation of Women to the Columbian Exposition”
Appendix 4: Complete Text of “The Need of Special Training for Agricultural Pursuits”
Appendix 5: Complete Text of “Roads of Remembrance”
Appendix 6: Obituary of Virginia C. Meredith, Lafayette (Ind.) Journal and Courier
Appendix 7: Complete Text of “Mrs. Virginia Meredith,” Lafayette (Ind.) Journal and Courier
Notes
Sources
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T HE AUTHORS WOULD LIKE TO GIVE SPECIAL THANKS to Robert Miller, the great-nephew of Virginia Meredith, and his daughter, Virginia Nilles, who allowed us to visit with them and see their memorabilia from the Meredith family.
We would be remiss if the editor of our book, Carolyn McGrew, was not mentioned. Her professional editing and her willingness to go beyond just the words helped to make the life of Virginia Meredith a more cohesive and easier-to-read biography.
Special recognition goes to Dawn L. Minns for her artistic talents in designing the dust jacket and the layout of the book. Thank you also to Marilyn Augst of Prairie Moon Indexing for preparing the index.
The following individuals provided important contributions and assistance in the development of this biography on Virginia Meredith:
Anne Marie Chase, Chicago History Museum
Christine Chouccoli, Warren County–Vicksburg Public Library
Joanne Goode, Glendale Historic Preservation, Glendale, Ohio
Constance Gordon, Special Collections and Preservation Division, Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago, Illinois
Lori Griffin, Cambridge City (Ind.) Library, History Room volunteer
Lois Hendrickson, University Archives, University of Minnesota
Patty Hersberger, Cambridge City (Ind.) Library, History Room volunteer
Sue King, Archivist, Morrisson-Reeves Library, Richmond, Indiana
Roberta Lemley, Cambridge City (Ind.) Library, History Room volunteer
Lesley A. Martin, Chicago History Museum
Sammie Morris, Archivist, Purdue University Special Collections
Debbie Vaughan, Chicago History Museum
Phyllis Webster, Mason, Michigan
Elizabeth Wilkinson, Manuscript Librarian, Indiana State Library
Ashley Woodward, Purdue University
INTRODUCTION

Yes, I am a farmer, and proud of it. —Virginia Meredith, Dignam’s Magazine, September 1905
V IRGINIA CLAYPOOL MEREDITH’S life in 1882 was turned upside down when her husband, Henry, who had been ill for nearly two weeks, died at their farm. Leaning on a fence, she pondered her future as much of the nationally acclaimed Oakland Farm—now hers by inheritance—spread out before her view. At the age of thirty-three, Virginia Meredith had come to a crossroads. She looked back toward the beautiful Federal-style home that her father-in-law, General Solomon Meredith, had purchased years before and thought of all the important guests—politicians, livestock breeders, and farmers—who had been entertained there. If she kept the home and farm, she would be solely responsible for the upkeep of a significant property.
There were 115 acres in pasture where prize Shorthorns and Southdown sheep lazily grazed across the fields. Virginia wondered and worried whether she could continue to improve upon the livestock breeding program that her father-in-law and husband had so diligently undertaken to make Oakland Farm a place that breeders from around the country visited to seek advice and purchase livestock.
If she kept the farm, she would undoubtedly hear from those around her that a woman’s role was to manage the home, not the fields and livestock. But Virginia took strength in the advice that her father, Austin Claypool, had continuously stressed to her early in life: a woman could do anything that she put her mind to. Claypool, a successful grain farmer in his own right, had taught her all that he knew about farming, politics, and the value of education.
It came to her after much deliberation that she would accept the challenge of keeping and maintaining the farm herself. This single decision to run Oakland Farm would change her life forever. It would take some time, but Virginia Claypool Meredith would eventually emerge from the shadows of her husband and father-in-law. She would become something of a celebrity in her own right as she crisscrossed the country speaking on agricultural production and the farm home.
Her role in directly managing the affairs of a large and prosperous farm in east-central Indiana opened doors that were too often closed to women of her time. As her fame spread across the Midwest, her presentations began to focus more on the need for education of women, in general, and rural women, in particular. While striving to change society’s expectations for women, she also gave a voice to the important role of women in the home. It would take a lifetime of work, but Virginia Meredith would become known as “the most remarkable woman in Indiana” and be called the “Queen of American Agriculture.” 1
Mention her name today and her achievements are also remembered because of her association with Purdue University: the first woman appointed to serve on the university’s board of trustees, a residence hall named in her honor, and the collaborative work with her adopted daughter, Mary L. Matthews, in creating the School of Home Economics, the predecessor of today’s College of Consumer and Family Sciences.
Unfortunately, Meredith’s personal papers and letters were destroyed by fire, so the details of her life can only be reconstructed using widely scattered old manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and magazine articles. Pieced together, these writings bring life to this noteworthy woman, showing us how, by all accounts, she unlocked doors for women of the next generation. By force of her personality, her extensive knowledge of agriculture, and her dogged determination, she became a voice for rural people.
In those days following her husband’s death, Virginia Claypool Meredith was surely unaware of the journey upon which she was about to embark. This biography attempts to chronicle her journey and her remarkable life.
Farm and Family
A Hoosier Family’s Rise to Prominence
 

CHAPTER 1
Mrs. Meredith firmly believes that farming is a vocation peculiarly adapted to women, first, because their “work is not discounted on account of sex. A bushel of wheat brings market price; a cow makes as many— or more—pounds of butter when owned by a woman, as when owned by a man.”
—Interview with Virginia Meredith, Indianapolis News, 3 January 1900
V IRGINIA CLAYPOOL’S ANCESTORS were early pioneers in east-central Indiana at the turn of the nineteenth century. Successful, wealthy, powerful, and influential describe the early Claypool family, who established themselves and generations to follow as accomplished business owners, esteemed farmers and stock breeders, and effective politicians. The Claypools were heavily invested in railroads, banks, sawmills, taverns, and farm property. As their farms and businesses prospered, their promi