{"id":1625,"date":"2013-06-14T07:05:07","date_gmt":"2013-06-14T11:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/preserving\/?p=1625"},"modified":"2013-07-25T08:02:27","modified_gmt":"2013-07-25T12:02:27","slug":"early-battles-for-womens-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/2013\/06\/14\/early-battles-for-womens-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Early “Battles” for Women’s Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“The Independence of Woman\u2014is <\/em>
\n it right or wrong ?\u2014that is the tremulous, doddering <\/em>
\n head of it. Is a woman the equal of a man? <\/em>
\n May a woman engage in all that a man may ?\u2014 <\/em>
\n those are its withered skinny legs. Is a woman <\/em>
\n born to be free ? Has a woman a genuine or a <\/em>
\n sham intelligence ?”— Menie Muriel Dowie<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Menie Muriel Dowie (1867-1945), British novelist, essayist, feminist, and independent career woman, poses these questions at the beginning of her book, Women adventurers :the lives of Madame Velazquez, Hannah Snell, Mary Anne Talbot, and Mrs. Christian Davies. London : T.F. Unwin, 1893<\/em>. Her compilation offers the fascinating and entertaining stories of four fiercely independent women who are notable for their unusual exploits while disguised as male soldiers. Granted, the tales of Velazquez, Snell, Talbot, and Davies were derived from unsubstantiated sources, second and third-hand accounts, legends, and rather dubious facts. Nonetheless, Dowie presents these women as extraordinary risk takers, not to be emulated or applauded for taking on the “masculine” role of armed combatants, but for their exceptional mental acuity, resourcefulness, resilience, and canniness to live life on their own terms.<\/p>\n

“…I look forward to the day when no howl of
\namazement, no blare of delight, will rise up
\nwhenever a woman chances to have evinced the
\nbravery, the intelligence, or the foresight which
\nis expected of men” — Menie Muriel Dowie<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Loreta Janeta Velazquez (1842 – 1897) was born in Cuba to a wealthy family. At the young age of 14, she eloped with a soldier in the Texas army. When Texas seceded from the Union in 1861, her husband joined the Confederate army leaving Velazquez behind. Velazquez begged her husband not to leave her alone, but to no avail. Resolute and determined, Velazquez had a uniform made and disguised herself as a man, taking on the name Harry T. Buford and the rank of lieutenant. She practiced the male gait, taking to smoking cigars and spitting, in order to fool officers and soldiers alike. Velazquez even raised her own regiment of volunteers and eventually made her way to Virginia participating in the First Battle of Bull Run and later on fighting at Shiloh. Over the next several years, she remained active in the war, changing in and out of disguise, as a male soldier or a female spy. After the war, to help support herself, she published her memoirs.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Lt. Harry T. Buford a.k.a Loreta Janeta Velazquez<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

…and without her disguise<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hannah Snell (1723\u20131792) borrowed a male suit from her brother-in-law in search for the husband, who had deserted her. Even though she did not find him, she maintained her disguise, eventually joining the British Marines where she was sent to India and supposedly fought in the battle of Devicotta. Though she was wounded in the engagement, she somehow managed to keep her identity hidden. Only after some five years past did she reveal her sex to her military unit, at which point, she pleaded for a honorable discharge and pension, which was surprisingly granted by the British Crown. Afterwards, she sold her unusual story to publishers and even went on tour dressed in her uniform telling her adventures and performing songs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

James Gray a.k.a. Hannah Snell<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
Description:<\/dt>\n
Women adventurers :the lives of Madame Velazquez, Hannah Snell, Mary Anne Talbot, and Mrs. Christian Davies. London : T.F. Unwin, 1893.<\/dd>\n
Persistent Link:<\/dt>\n
http:\/\/nrs.harvard.edu\/urn-3:FHCL:10738523<\/a><\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
Repository:<\/dt>\n
Widener Library<\/dd>\n
Institution:<\/dt>\n
Harvard University<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The Independence of Woman\u2014is it right or wrong ?\u2014that is the tremulous, doddering head of it. Is a woman the equal of a man? May a woman engage in all that a man may ?\u2014 those are its withered skinny legs. Is a woman born to be free ? Has a woman a genuine or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2559,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1625"}],"version-history":[{"count":100,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1725,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625\/revisions\/1725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}