"No Historian has ever dipped his pen in ink to tell of the grand and glorious deeds of this or that woman," a turn of the century woman protested.
Although that omission has since been redressed in many fields, one area still lacks historical introspection, Florida's pioneer women.
To rectify that void, The Tampa Bay History Center has recently published Women on the Tampa Bay Frontier by Canter Brown, Jr., Historian in Residence.
It is the second in a projected series on frontier life, the first, Children on the Tampa Bay Frontier having previously been issued in 1996.
Dr. Brown uses extensive sources, often quoting from the women's own reminiscences, to depict the courage and fortitude of our pioneer women from Fort Dade to Fort Ogden.
The agriculture-based frontier of the 1840's to 1890's offered limited opportunity with poverty being the norm.
A woman's future generally was determined by marriage. Due to financial and social pressures, teenage marriages were common with illnesses and frequent childbearing often leading to early death. Social events generally revolved around the church, but women seized other opportunities for socializing, such as house rearings, quilting bees, dances, and weddings. They also provided occasions for young women to find beaus.
All this and more Dr. Brown has skillfully detailed in Women on the Tampa Bay Frontier. The 5 1/4" X 8 1/2" 67-page illustrated paperback can be ordered from the Tampa Bay History Center, P. O. Box 948, Tampa, FL 33601-0948, telephone 813/228-0097. The charge per copy is $6.54.
This review was originally published in The Herald-Advocate (Wauchula, Fla.) of May 1, 1997.
January 11, 2001 & "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies," April 26, 2002