OPINION:
COMMENTARY:
“The womenfolk are doing nicely, thank you.” The opening line of a news story in Colliers magazine written on Nov. 4, 1950, is a lead I doubt would appear in today’s media. Especially under the headline “She-Town.”
A truly beautiful Virginia Piedmont town, Washington, Va., County seat of Rappahannock County known as “the first Washington” or “Little Washington,” made a national political splash more than a half-century ago.
A contentious election was held, votes counted and six town “councilmen” and the mayor were seven women “four wives, a widow, a secretary and the town beautician.” “The girls” went to work immediately to replace all burned-out streetlights within 24 hours. The men had ignored the problem for months. The word went out to clean the streets and cut the weeds on the courthouse lawn.
Mayor Dorothy Davis mother of three who “quit high school” to get married and “could qualify in any beauty contest,” immediately appointed a finance committee to study city expenses and draft a budget - a device never utilized by the males.
This event was newsworthy in a part of America that already had a very impressive history. The town takes great pride in being surveyed by a young George Washington before he fought in the French and Indian Wars.
Even earlier than George Washington’s surveying mission, it was on the American Frontier. Thankfully the Manohoac Tribe and early settlers appeared to exist in relative harmony. The Native Americans hunted and lived in the mountains while yeomen settlers farmed bottomland. To this day Rappahannock is still farming and beef county, with some vineyards and a few Horse Farms.
As our nation’s history progressed, and the frontier opened, Washington. Va., was just a stagecoach ride up the road from Monticello where “Mr. Jefferson” commissioned the two great captains, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to go on their epic journey to open up the American West.
A road maker just down the road from Washington in Sperryville points out that Conestoga wagons were built here in the early 19th century. Following Lewis and Clark’s courage, the pioneers went forward from Rappahannock County to face the beautiful but at times deadly frontier.
All around the county the heroism and tragedy of the Civil War echoes from history. Roadside signs seen when driving to the Blue Ridge Parkway proclaim to visitors they are in the Mosby Heritage area. The Confederate Gray Ghost John Mosby, a lawyer actually fighting from horseback totally vexed the Yankees. However, Mosby was not your average lawyer, he was home from the University of Virginia for shooting a fellow student before successfully passing the Bar.
On the Union side over the mountain from Rappahannock, also known as “the sunny side of the Blue Ridge,” Gen. Phil Sheridan made his famous ride to the sound of the guns.
Sheridan accomplished one of the most famous acts of leadership in American combat history. From Winchester to the battle of Cedar Creek, the commanding general of the Army of the Shenandoah rallied his faltering troops to effectively finally turn the tide in the Valley Campaign to greatly help win the Civil War.
Today Washington is known throughout the world as home of the “Inn at Little Washington,” a five-star bed and breakfast and restaurant celebrating its “Big 3-0.” But history aside, essentially, people are people and the town is like everywhere else, families and individuals getting on with the challenges, sorrows and joys of life.
The point is while big picture history swirls around people stand up for the well-being of others. Individuals throughout America in towns and small cities step forward in elections to take responsibility and make events happen large and small, for a greater good. In 1950, Mayor Davis and her council took responsibility and initiated action. That they were all woman was newsworthy on a national scale.
It takes a certain type of courage to get involved in small-town politics. Up close and personal, mayors and elected officials must make very hard decisions that can go against a close friend, or neighbor or elementary or high school classmates. By the very nature of the political process, compromise is required but ultimately a vote is taken for executive action and a public record is created. Small-town politics are not a lawyer-driven abstract debating society. It is real and lasting.
The women of Washington proved in 1950 they had the courage of their convictions and could be a force for good and with bold audacity they put up a sign entering the town for all to see, “Caution: You are now entering She Town.”
There is an old joke from years ago when a child asks the father what does he and mom do to split the work, the father says, “Your mother runs the house while I take care of the big things. She plans the budget, forces homework, determines what house we should live in, generally accomplishes the smaller tasks.” “What do you do Dad?” “Well I determine who should win the World Series.”
Ed Timperlake, is the co-author with Jed Babbin of “Showdown: Why China Wants War with the United States.”
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