Carthage Women in History

Emily Newell Blair
1877– 1951

1894: Graduated from Carthage High School

1890s: Attended Woman's College of Baltimore before
returning to area to teach in Sarcoxie

1900: Married Harry W. Blair; assisted him in legal profession and running for local political offices

1909: Sold first short story to Woman's Home Companion; continued to write for a variety of national magazines including features on Carthage events and organizations like "May Fete" fundraiser for the local kindergarten and the Co-op Kitchen that was an experiment in a family communal cooking/meal service plan

1914: Active in Jasper County Almshouse Campaign led by women to convince male voters to approve a bond issue to build and new care facility

1914: Gave first female suffrage speech in St. Louis on platform with William Jennings Bryan

1914–16: First editor of "The Missouri Woman" magazine originally published in Monett, MO

1916: Organized "Golden Lane" Suffrage Demonstration at National Democratic Convention in St. Louis

1917: 7th District Vice-Chairman of Missouri Council of National Defense

1918: Executive Member, Nat. Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense in Washington, DC; wrote national history of women's efforts during WWI in 1919

1919: Began teaching "Every Missouri Woman and Intelligent Voter" classes after passage of Missouri's suffrage bill

1920s: Founder, League of Women Voters but later rejected organization in favor of partisan politics

1921: Missouri's "Woman Delegate" to Democratic National Committee

1922–28: Elected National Vice-Chairman of the National Democratic Committee

1920s–30s: Prolific writer on government, feminism and other issues in contemporary magazines; also book review editor for "Good Housekeeping" magazine

1928: Founder of Joplin's Woman's Club

1930: Wrote Creation of a Home on the occasion of the marriage of her daughter Harriet. Emily and Harry also had a son Newell who followed his father into the legal profession.

1931: Wrote Woman of Courage which according to family tradition is loosely based on Annie Baxter's life [but may have been based on facts associated with Della Sharp's life as well. Della Sharp, like Annie Baxter, was elected Jasper County Clerk prior to women having the vote.]

1932–35: Appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt to Consumer's Advisory Board of the National Recovery Act; became board's chairperson in 1933

1943: Became Chief of Women's Interest Section of War Department Bureau of Public Relations

1944: Retired from public service due to a stroke

For those who would like to read more about Mrs. Blair, consult her autobiography, posthumously published, entitled Bridging Two Eras. It was published by the University of Missouri and edited by Missouri Southern State University professor Dr. Virginia Jeans Laas.

Also note the Powers Museum has a large collection of Emily's writings that were photocopied by students doing National History Day projects over the past years. They may be consulted at the museum during regular hours although some advance notice to prepare the materials would be appreciated.

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