Legacy by James Michener

Author:James Michener [Michener, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-06-29T22:00:00+00:00

pleadingly: 'Father, why were you so generous in defending black slaves? I've always been proud of you for that. But now the next reform comes along and you're dead set against us.' He saw no anomaly. 'Blacks like Hannibal knew

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their place and I was proud to help them. Every- one has a proper place, and women should not be seen ranting and raving in the streets or lecturing United States senators.' He felt so strongly about this that he convened a no-nonsense family meeting in which he read the riot act, with Anne delivering the crucial blows: 'Emily, if you ever repeat this disgraceful behav- iour, your father and your brother will not want you to remain in this house. It's too embarrassing.' Then she turned to Librarian Rawson, who had earlier been informed that the promised dowry for Emily would not be forthcoming if she persisted in her shameful ways. Realizing that without such a dowry, a Rawson-Starr marriage would be impos- sible, he told Emily in front of the others: 'No man can retain his self-respect if a wife acts up in pub- lic. Real women don't want the vote. They want the security of a good home. command.' Emily felt dizzy and was afraid she was going to be sick. The forces arrayed against her were too powerful. Her father was remorseless; Anne was too clever; and Philip, the person she had begun to feel might be her partner, had turned traitor. Ignoring the others, she stepped before him and said: 'There's always been a great wrong in this nation and I must try to correct it. I'm sorry, Philip,' and the threatened sickness passed as she left her family and her intended husband.

. . where they are in

Nancy and I have a scrapbook which someone in our family put together. It shows in ugly images Emily Starr's turbulent years at the change of centuries, and often Nancy has tears in her eyes as we see this procession of determined women in

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their long black skirts being attacked and reviled and even spat upon. Nancy says: 'I wouldn't have had the courage,' and I tell her honestly: 'I Inight have reacted just like Malcolm or Rawson. I wouldn't have been prepared for this.' In the scrapbook there is one newspaper clip- ping which summarizes the opposition my great- auntfaced:

Who opposes these Amazon women? Honest politicians resist because they can't guess how women will vote, dishonest ones because they fear women might support reform movements. The brewing interests pour in vast sums of money lest their saloons be closed, and the South is solidly opposed for fear of what black women might do if they ever voted. Protestant churches which accept St Paul's fulminations against women fight tooth and nail, and recently Cardinal Gibbons enrolled his Catho- lics against them. But the most effective foe is the wealthy woman like Anne Starr who testi- fies that real women don't want or need these so-called rights.

When I showed my wife

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