Bøger af Flora Beach Burlingame

It's the late 1800s, and John Ogilvie Stevenson, pastor of the Congregational Church in Waterloo, Iowa, believes women are equal to men intellectually, and superior to men morally and spiritually. As a member of Iowa Woman Suffrage Association, he joins the fight as editor of their monthly newsletter.

It's the late 1800s, and John Ogilvie Stevenson, pastor of the Congregational Church in Waterloo, Iowa, believes women are equal to men intellectually, and superior to men morally and spiritually. During a sermon on temperance, wherein he advocates laws to shut down the saloons, he is struck with the irony that his audiences are composed mostly of women-that segment of the citizenry who cannot vote. Thus begins his campaign for women's suffrage. A large portion of the public believes a woman's place is in the home, that she has no business in politics, and probably isn't smart enough to vote. Every two years the state legislature considers putting an amendment on the ballot for a public vote on the issue and time after time it doesn't get that far. The Reverend John Stevenson never gives up. Through the triumphs and tragedies of his own personal life, he is determined to forge the path to progress.

"Ophelia and the Freedmen's School is based on an actual school established in 1867 in Lavaca, Texas. The author's great-grandfather, John Ogilvie Stevenson, was the teacher of the Lavaca school and he left many documents, letters, and stories about his experiences there. (Those documents are now archived at the Rosenberg Research Library in Galveston, Texas.) The protagonist is one of two white war refugee girls at the Lavaca school who were real students of Mr. Stevenson. Ten-year-old Ophelia at first resents her black classmates, whom she perceives as "not like her." But through shared experiences with them-the joy of learning, a yellow fever epidemic, and fear of the KKK, which threatens the life of their beloved teacher and closure of the school-her attitude changes. This well-researched story is threaded through with the tensions that marked Reconstruction in the South. Who in the community are the malcontents? Ultimately, the real message is one of working together and embracing friendships, regardless of differences"--