Josephine Brawley Hughes
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Josephine Brawley Hughes (December 22, 1839 – March 1926) was an advocate of women's rights in the United States
West region.
, Brawley was the daughter of John R. Brawley, an important farmer and lawyer of the time.
Brawley did not like her first name of Elizabeth, so she would later refuse to use it or answer to it. She graduated from Edinboro State Normal School, and she became a teacher there for two years.
In 1868, she married Louis C. Hughes, future governor of Arizona
. While Louis was fighting at the Civil War
, he suffered a wound and was relieved of duty, so he and Josephine moved to Tucson
. By that time, they already had a daughter named Gertrude.
Josephine travelled by train
to San Francisco
, where they boarded a coach that transported them to Tucson. Along the way, the Brawley Hughes were met with several problems: Josephine had already begun pushing for an alcohol
abolition law and she was not well liked by many cowboys, so she always carried a rifle
with her. During the coach trip from San Francisco to Tucson, she was fearful that her rifle would accidentally shoot itself and injury her baby, because the carriage's horses were travelling very fast.
During one point of that trip, the horses got tired and slammed into the ground, causing baby Gertrude to fall off the coach. She survived, however, by falling on a mountain of sand, which prevented her from suffering injury. Josephine ordered the coach driver to stay still until she could pick her daughter up and make sure the baby was uninjured.
According to some newspapers of the time, she was only the third English-speaking woman to live in Tucson. The place, a dozen years after the Gadsen Purchase, was still a Spanish-speaking community.
Josephine thought that living conditions in Tucson were somewhat inhumane, and she soon bought over candles from Pennsylvania
, which she used for her home as well as for neighbors' homes, to provide adequate lighting to her street. She also ordered the construction of a water
cistern, which many believe to be the first one in Arizona, on the belief that the water sold at Tucson's streets during those days was unsanitary.
In 1874, son John Brawley was born, followed by daughter Josephine in 1877. She had another baby; her third daughter died shortly after birth, and Josephine resolved to have her buried on the Hughes' front yard. She was afraid that her baby's corpse would be eaten by coyote
s if buried at the local cemetery.
Louis Hughes was enjoying a prosperous career as a lawyer by then, and his success led the Hughes to gain social importance in Tucson. Many famous men and women of the West visited them, including the general Nelson Miles in 1886. Miles directed battles against the apache
s from the Hughes' dining room.
In 1873, Louis became superintendent of schools in Tucson; his wife later convinced him to open the first school for girls in the area. Josephine served as the school's first teacher.
She was also a Christian
, and helped create Tucson's first Protestant church, the Congregational Church
in downtown Tucson. She later became a Methodist. Josephine was raised as a Methodist, however, the Methodists would not bring a minister to the wilds of Arizona, until later years. As soon as she was able to gain the acceptance of the Methodist church to bring a Methodist minister to Tucson, she immediately changed her church membership.
Frances W. Willard, president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
, came as a speaker to the Congregational Church, and a WCTU chapter opened in Tucson, with Josephine as the first president of the organization. Willard and Brawley Hughes became friends, and toured the area to set up chapters. They spoke to men and women about the values of sobriety in society and about God
. Willard and Brawley Hughes helped many convert into Christianity.
In 1884, the organization began pushing for whiskey sales to be banned during election days, and for a law forbidding boys under 16 to be allowed into saloons. The WCTU's efforts helped for laws to be passed against alcohol being sold on Sundays, and for an abolition law, which began on January 1 of 1915.
In 1893, Louis Hughes became Arizona's governor, and the Hughes family opened Arizona's first daily newspaper, "The Arizona Daily Star". Josephine used her articles at the Star to oppose alcoholism and to express her feminist views, encouraging ladies to wear long skirts.
Saloon ads were not allowed on the Star. While Louis was out of town on a business trip to the East coast, he appointed R.A. Caples to run the newspaper. Unaware of the paper's stand against alcoholism and establishments that sold alcohol, Caples allowed a saloon to advertise on the newspaper. In Caples' own words, "The first paper (Josephine) saw (with the ad), she came down and gave me the Devil".
In 1891. Brawley Hughes convinced Laura M. Johns to visit Arizona, and together, they formed the Arizona Suffrage Association, which lobbied for women to be able to find jobs and to vote.
By 1890, John Hughes, who would later become a senator, was already into helping his mother improve women rights. At the national convention of suffrage of that year, Susan B. Anthony
, a friend of Brawley Hughes, grabbed him and named him the "suffrage knight of Arizona". Anthony's action proved prophetic: as senator, John proved important in granting women rights to vote and hold jobs.
Louis Hughes abandoned his post as Arizona governor amid rumors of corruption
, and he sold the newspaper in 1907. Josephine suffered these events greatly. Her son John's death at the age of 47 in 1921 further added to her suffering. Many believe that the rumors of corruption started when Theodore Roosevelt asked Louis Hughes to be at the christening of the USS Arizona, and he and Josephine refused to attend, because they would be serving liquor.
Josephine Brawley Hughes suffered a fall at her daughter Gertrude's home in 1925, leaving her crippled. No longer with the strength she possessed as a youth, she died shortly after.
The Arizona state capitol building, located in Phoenix
, honored her with a bronze plaque that is located on the building's rotunda.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
West region.
Biography
Born in a farm near Meadville, PennsylvaniaMeadville, Pennsylvania
Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city is generally considered part of the Pittsburgh Tri-State and is within 40 miles of Erie, Pennsylvania. It was the first permanent settlement in northwest Pennsylvania...
, Brawley was the daughter of John R. Brawley, an important farmer and lawyer of the time.
Brawley did not like her first name of Elizabeth, so she would later refuse to use it or answer to it. She graduated from Edinboro State Normal School, and she became a teacher there for two years.
In 1868, she married Louis C. Hughes, future governor of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. While Louis was fighting at the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, he suffered a wound and was relieved of duty, so he and Josephine moved to Tucson
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. By that time, they already had a daughter named Gertrude.
Josephine travelled by train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
to San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, where they boarded a coach that transported them to Tucson. Along the way, the Brawley Hughes were met with several problems: Josephine had already begun pushing for an alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
abolition law and she was not well liked by many cowboys, so she always carried a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
with her. During the coach trip from San Francisco to Tucson, she was fearful that her rifle would accidentally shoot itself and injury her baby, because the carriage's horses were travelling very fast.
During one point of that trip, the horses got tired and slammed into the ground, causing baby Gertrude to fall off the coach. She survived, however, by falling on a mountain of sand, which prevented her from suffering injury. Josephine ordered the coach driver to stay still until she could pick her daughter up and make sure the baby was uninjured.
According to some newspapers of the time, she was only the third English-speaking woman to live in Tucson. The place, a dozen years after the Gadsen Purchase, was still a Spanish-speaking community.
Josephine thought that living conditions in Tucson were somewhat inhumane, and she soon bought over candles from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, which she used for her home as well as for neighbors' homes, to provide adequate lighting to her street. She also ordered the construction of a water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
cistern, which many believe to be the first one in Arizona, on the belief that the water sold at Tucson's streets during those days was unsanitary.
In 1874, son John Brawley was born, followed by daughter Josephine in 1877. She had another baby; her third daughter died shortly after birth, and Josephine resolved to have her buried on the Hughes' front yard. She was afraid that her baby's corpse would be eaten by coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
s if buried at the local cemetery.
Louis Hughes was enjoying a prosperous career as a lawyer by then, and his success led the Hughes to gain social importance in Tucson. Many famous men and women of the West visited them, including the general Nelson Miles in 1886. Miles directed battles against the apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
s from the Hughes' dining room.
In 1873, Louis became superintendent of schools in Tucson; his wife later convinced him to open the first school for girls in the area. Josephine served as the school's first teacher.
She was also a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, and helped create Tucson's first Protestant church, the Congregational Church
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
in downtown Tucson. She later became a Methodist. Josephine was raised as a Methodist, however, the Methodists would not bring a minister to the wilds of Arizona, until later years. As soon as she was able to gain the acceptance of the Methodist church to bring a Methodist minister to Tucson, she immediately changed her church membership.
Frances W. Willard, president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
Woman's Christian Temperance Union
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union was the first mass organization among women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far-reaching reform strategies based on applied Christianity." Originally organized on December 23, 1873, in...
, came as a speaker to the Congregational Church, and a WCTU chapter opened in Tucson, with Josephine as the first president of the organization. Willard and Brawley Hughes became friends, and toured the area to set up chapters. They spoke to men and women about the values of sobriety in society and about God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. Willard and Brawley Hughes helped many convert into Christianity.
In 1884, the organization began pushing for whiskey sales to be banned during election days, and for a law forbidding boys under 16 to be allowed into saloons. The WCTU's efforts helped for laws to be passed against alcohol being sold on Sundays, and for an abolition law, which began on January 1 of 1915.
In 1893, Louis Hughes became Arizona's governor, and the Hughes family opened Arizona's first daily newspaper, "The Arizona Daily Star". Josephine used her articles at the Star to oppose alcoholism and to express her feminist views, encouraging ladies to wear long skirts.
Saloon ads were not allowed on the Star. While Louis was out of town on a business trip to the East coast, he appointed R.A. Caples to run the newspaper. Unaware of the paper's stand against alcoholism and establishments that sold alcohol, Caples allowed a saloon to advertise on the newspaper. In Caples' own words, "The first paper (Josephine) saw (with the ad), she came down and gave me the Devil".
In 1891. Brawley Hughes convinced Laura M. Johns to visit Arizona, and together, they formed the Arizona Suffrage Association, which lobbied for women to be able to find jobs and to vote.
By 1890, John Hughes, who would later become a senator, was already into helping his mother improve women rights. At the national convention of suffrage of that year, Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony
Susan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
, a friend of Brawley Hughes, grabbed him and named him the "suffrage knight of Arizona". Anthony's action proved prophetic: as senator, John proved important in granting women rights to vote and hold jobs.
Louis Hughes abandoned his post as Arizona governor amid rumors of corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, and he sold the newspaper in 1907. Josephine suffered these events greatly. Her son John's death at the age of 47 in 1921 further added to her suffering. Many believe that the rumors of corruption started when Theodore Roosevelt asked Louis Hughes to be at the christening of the USS Arizona, and he and Josephine refused to attend, because they would be serving liquor.
Josephine Brawley Hughes suffered a fall at her daughter Gertrude's home in 1925, leaving her crippled. No longer with the strength she possessed as a youth, she died shortly after.
The Arizona state capitol building, located in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, honored her with a bronze plaque that is located on the building's rotunda.
External links
- Josephine Brawley Hughes, Arizona Women's Hall of Fame