I am writing about Dave Drake, an enslaved poet-potter, who lived in Pottersville, SC, near Edgefield. His owners were Harvey Drake, Abner Landrum (who founded the pottery and who was also a physician, journalist, and horticulturist), and a man named Miles. Although there are several diaries kept by local landowners, I can’t find any by pottery owners.

Thanks very much for your time and efforts!

Answer: Dear Ms. Balch:

Do you know about this book, scheduled for publication by Norton this October?

Carolina Clay: The Life and Legend of the Slave Potter Dave by Leonard Todd: New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2008.

Here’s the page on the Norton Website that gives you information about Mr. Todd. If you haven’t been in touch with him already, now is the time to do it:

http://www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall08/005856.htm

A quick search of online reference tools like Archive: USA doesn’t reveal catalog records for collections that could be of use to you. We both know that this doesn’t mean they don’t exist – just that the records currently available on the Web don’t show anything. I suspect that Mr. Todd’s bibliography would be enlightening.

Mary-Jo Kline

From: Debora Latour

Question: Dear Dr. Kline,

A friend of mine is working on a family history which involves a West Virginia coal miner named "Conley" who was wounded in a shoot out with either the Pinkerton Co. or the Baldwin-Felts Co following a Mother Jones rally near Bluefield, WV circa 1905.

I have tried using your website's search, but to no avail. I would greatly appreciate any assistance you could offer.

Thank you!

Answer: Dear Ms. Latour:

The Mother Jones Museum Website has very good suggestions for further reading about Mary “Mother” Jones – be sure to scroll down the section about labor unrest in West Virginia. Your first task will be figuring out the date of the rally – and a more precise idea of its location. Once you get that settled, I can offer more suggestions about the local history organizations that might help you in your work.

Get back to me if you have more questions. I come from an old union family (railroads, not mines), and when my (Republican) husband and I drove through southeastern Illinois a few years ago, I ordered him to pull off the highway when I saw the sign for the Mother Jones Monument in the Miners Cemetery in Mt. Olive. If you’re ever in that area, don’t miss it:

http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/gallery/illin023.htm

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/places/mtolive.htm

I hope to hear from you,

Mary-Jo Kline

Remember that I used to be an editor of the Adams Family’s Papers, so I’m pretty fussy about quoting any of them. Abigail didn’t ask John to try to get the vote for women. She wrote only “remember the ladies” when he and other members of the Continental Congress were considering the Declaration of Independence and the laws of the new American nation. We can’t be absolutely sure what she meant.

But whatever it was, John ignored it.

I’m afraid that we can’t point to one person or even a few people as those who made sure that there was no mention of women in the Declaration of Independence – or the Articles of Confederation (1781) or the Constitution (1787). Neither Abigail Adams’s husband John nor any other (man) in a position to do anything thought that it was worth while even to propose that they “do” something for the ladies. Thus no one else had to oppose it!!!

I’d suggest that you look at some of the sources I list for studying the legal status of women in America for our History Now issue of March 2006 :

http://www.historynow.org/03_2006/ask2d.html

As you’ll find out, it was a long, long time before the question of more legal rights for women (not just voting rights) reached the point where you could point to a person or group who had to oppose the idea publicly. I think that you and your mother will enjoy learning more about this. Get back to me if you have any other questions.

Mary-Jo Kline