An Outstanding Idea in an Expanding Frontier!

By:

Special Committee to Study P.E.O. Ceremonies and Meeting Procedure

Were the Stars Aligned?

A warm January morning in Iowa inspired an idea as outstanding as the day. When shared among seven friends, this idea was the impetus to fashion a society to commemorate their devotion to each other and strengthen their bonds of friendship and love. It occurred to two young college women balancing on a wooden stile—or was it seven sitting around a stove? It depends on who is telling the story, but maybe that doesn’t matter. What really matters is what was happening around them—in the nation, the state, the city and the college—that would alter the status of women forever and would greatly influence the direction of P.E.O.

In the year 1869, these seven teenagers had memories of an exhausting and devastating war. They remembered the rainy April morning in 1865 that was lighted by the promise of peace—the ending of the Civil War. As reconstruction began, a shot rang out that would still the nation as they mourned the death of President Lincoln, who had fought to save the Union. Out of this devastation and death emerged throughout the nation the determination, vision and momentum to move forward.

Although these students were busy with classical studies in Greek, Latin, rhetoric and philosophy, they sought more camaraderie and purpose than simple social outings. The world of Mary Allen, Alice Bird, Hattie Briggs, Alice Coffin, Suela Pearson, Franc Roads and Ella Stewart was changing from a simple local agriculture and manufacturing economy to an almost global one. Both the transcontinental United States rail link and the Suez Canal were completed in 1869, speeding up and improving travel and commerce. Because the rail link connecting San Francisco and Chicago made a stop in Mount Pleasant, these people were exposed to new ideas and products. This rail system was a valuable avenue for expansion of intellectual ideas and opportunities. Merchants and professional men settled with their families in the city.

The great expansion of the western frontier and the lure of free land drew families to midwestern locales like Mount Pleasant. Education was important to these pioneers. While most other western towns had district schools, Mount Pleasant had three schools of higher learning: Iowa Wesleyan University (subsequently named Iowa Wesleyan College), one of the oldest collegiate institutions founded west of the Mississippi River; Howe’s Academy, one of the earliest normal schools of the west; and the Young Ladies’ Seminary, a school of high academic standards for women. Early in its existence, Mount Pleasant was promoted as a cultural center and was later christened the “Athens of Iowa.” It had strong religious roots. Four church denominations established congregations: Methodist Episcopal, Congregational, Cumberland Presbyterian and Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

The Women’s Rights Movement was gaining momentum. Before the Civil War, there were few opportunities for women to associate outside religious circles. The passage of the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, propelled the women’s movement to greater action. Activist women believed the 14th Amendment actually enfranchised women, since it made no mention of gender in its provision asserting the rights of citizenship. Orators making the public speaking circuits promoted the ideals of women’s full participation. Political movements arose from within the antislavery movement. Susan B. Anthony, one of the activists and founder of the American Equal Rights Association, believed that equality should extend to women and African Americans.

Mount Pleasant was a gathering place of intellectual minds. In 1869, this city was the venue for a solar eclipse expedition sponsored by the National Almanac. Gifted orators and lecturers, such as Frederick Douglas, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Anna Elizabeth Dickinson and Bronson Alcott spoke at Union Hall. Augusta Jane Chapin, one of the first women to be ordained a minister, was living in Mount Pleasant and preaching Universalist theology. Arabella Babb Mansfield, an Iowa Wesleyan alumna and sister-in-law to P.E.O. Founder Alice Bird Babb, was the first woman in the United States to receive a license to practice law. In 1870, she was elected permanent chairman for a state convention held in Mount Pleasant for the purpose of organizing the Iowa Women Suffrage Association.

Franc Roads counted as her friends suffragists Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, as well as poet John Greenleaf Whittier. Another notable figure was Mary Eunice Harlan, daughter of Iowa Senator James Harlan, and wife of Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln. Mount Pleasant was gifted with many women intellectually ready and willing to move forward and was reinforced by institutions of higher learning available to infuse the momentum.

Three of the P.E.O. Founders: Franc Roads,
Mary Allen Stafford and Hattie Briggs

Iowa Wesleyan College, sponsored by the Iowa Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was rooted in religious, educational and cultural aspirations of early settlers. In the beginning there were two professors and the teachings were natural and moral science; “belles lettres”; ancient language and literature; and mathematics. In 1853, James Harlan had become president of Iowa Wesleyan and was determined to advance the educational status of the school. Money was raised to build “Old Main,” the building in which P.E.O. was founded. Harlan expanded the curriculum adding political economy and theology, as well as piano, drawing, French and German. This school of higher learning was a pioneer in coeducation. In 1859, Lucy Webster Killpatrick was the first woman to graduate. Susan Mosely Grandison, the first black alumna, graduated in 1885. It was an institution with forward thinking individuals, enthusiastic and dedicated students concentrating on higher education for all.

Were the stars aligned for our Founders? Were the seven in the right place at the right time with the right purpose to establish a society for women? Mary Allen, Alice Bird, Hattie Briggs, Alice Coffin, Suela Pearson, Franc Roads and Ella Stewart’s ages ranged from 17 to 21. All earned a degree from Iowa Wesleyan, except for Ella. Each of the seven was driven by a pioneer heritage, a religious background and educational opportunities. A successful college life led to careers in teaching, music, art and service and leadership opportunities in communities where they settled with their families. Alice Bird reported that after graduation in 1869 they became scattered. Of the original seven, only two remained in Mount Pleasant. They continued to participate in P.E.O. affairs as lifestyles and chapter availability allowed. Mary Allen Stafford “dimitted” to four chapters and Alice Bird Babb contributed to P.E.O. throughout her long life including speaking at conventions and writing articles for The P.E.O. Record. Franc Roads Elliott moved to Nebraska and maintained her intense interest in the advancement of women. She was appointed to represent that state at the New Orleans Expo, the first time women commissioners were named to an international exposition, and for more than 15 years Franc worked to secure a woman’s right to a seat and vote in the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Maybe Alice Bird answered the question when she wrote: “If there isany virtue in the founding of P.E.O., it is not on account of the Founders, for we were all ordinary girls, but on account of the time of the founding. It was an age of vision, reconstruction not only along national lines, but reconstruction of thought, minds, and souls. Women’s clubs were demanded; they came at just the right time.”