State

August 18, 193-1 Page Seven MOTHER COTTEN ONE OF NORTH CAROLINA'S GREATEST WOMEN - By ALICE DUGGER GRIMES - i I. у япгг n h и n <1 я n I - Iv evidenced in its furnish- i n g s, food, and |»liysi<’jil comfort*. Mrs. Cot¬ ton believed that woman’s lirsl duty w як in t h *’ home, but she also thought that with good manage¬ ment there was still time for other things. To quote M r s. STATE MRS. SALLIE SOUTHALL COTTEN OX К of the most gracious, pub- lie spirited, consecrated women ever to have made her home in North Carolina was Sallie Southall Cotton “Mother Colton," as she still is known to thousands of club women in this state. Few women have done more for the advancement of education ami welfare work in this state than she did during her long and useful life. It was through her efforts that the federated olubs of North Carolina came into ex¬ istence. And it was because of her leadership that other women began to manifest an interest in the affairs of their community and their state. Sallie Southall Cotton Mrs. 11. R. Cotton — though born in Virginia i* reckoned always a daughter of North Carolina. When she was a small child her parents moved from Brunswick Coun¬ ty. Virginia to Chowan County in Eastern Carolina, and her education was obtained in North Carolina schools. After graduation from (Ireens- boro Female College— G. F. C. of the old days; and she graduated, by the way, in a home-spun dress— she taught in North Carolina, married a North Carolina man, lived on a North Caro¬ lina farm, and her eight children were born in North Carolina. Her married life began in the bleak and bare years directly following the Civil War. Life on the farm at that time was no bod of roses even for the most fortunately placed and Robert Randolph Gotten and Sallie Southall Gotten were struggling as most plant¬ ers were then, with the possession of land and little else. She was an ideal home-maker and hostess, a delightful conversationalist, most sympathetic as wife and mother, and never in the long record of her sixtv-two years of married life did she lose hold upon her home. This home at Cottendale, Pitt County, was a real home, not only of culture and refinement, hut of en¬ deavor, Outwardly, as 1 remember, it was a long, low, rambling house with many porches, in a grove of oaks, some distance back from the highway, inventiveness, ingenuity, and capabil- Cottcn. "A modern girl’s work is three¬ fold— to make a good wife -a wise mother — and a good citizen." In her own self she proved (his. Her first public service was to her State as one of the women managers of the Chicago World’s Fair of 1894, where she was on both State and Na¬ tional boards; then came similar work at the Atlanta Exposition, and the Charleston Exposition. While work¬ ing for these exhibits she aroused in¬ ti-rest ill the State’s hidden historical treasures, herself finding the painting of the “Edenton Ten Party." The Legend of Virginia Dare, and the fate of the Lost Colony always intrigued her. In her volume of verses “The White Doe, and the I ml inn Legend," she delightfully depicts tin- life storv of America’s first born white child. All matters pertaining to women and children were of deep interest to her. The National Congress of Mothers claimed her thought, atten¬ tion and work for years and she was made Honorary Vice President for life of this body of earnest women. The Daughters of the Confederacy, the King’s Daughters, and the fre¬ quent calls of her church — the Epis¬ copal — found in her a worker ami a councillor always at their command. Her keen mind saw that only through combined action could real progress for women !*• obtained, first through the establishment, of clubs throughout the State and then a feder¬ ation of these clubs. Many women’s clubs were formed under her inspira¬ tion. and her work then was to gather these elilbs of the state into a united group. This was done, and today “The Federation of Women’s Clubs" is a dominant power in moulding thought throughout the entire state. Mrs. Gotten considered "The Feder¬ ation of Women’s Cluks" as the larg¬ est opportunity and broadest field for service, speaking of it as "A Sister¬ hood of Women United in an Effort for Universal Uplift.” Education for women, had her keen¬ est sympathy. She worked diligently for the passage of an act by the legis¬ lature whereby women would lie eligi¬ ble t<* election and service on public school boards and she lived to see the Federation aid in securing the passage of this act. Having known the four months and the six months public school terms she strove faithfully to obtain the eight months public school term, and she was thoroughly aroused to the necessity for broader educa¬ tional advantages for girls and young women. Recognizing this work of hers, the club women of North Carolina estab¬ lished an educational loan fund at ( Continued on page twenty-two)