ELVIRA BEACH CARRE SHAPES MECS WOMEN'S WORK page 47-48
The relative tolerance, open-mindedness, and lack of class consciousness displayed by Joyner and by the other MECS women reflected the attitudes of Elvira Beach Carré, who was both Joyner's personal mentor and a woman who held an extraordinarily powerful leadership role in the New Orleans women's work. Regarded as "a tower of strength to Methodism in Louisiana" who was "universally esteemed and honored," she was chosen by the WP&HMS members across New Orleans to lead their city mission board as president for an astonishing nineteen years. Elected to the position in 1892, when the group first organized Elvira Beach Carré shape the Social Gospel ministries in New Orleans during three of the movement's most vital decades.
Born in Ohio in 1842, she moved to New Orleans with her family when she was four years old, attended public schools, and graduated from a "female seminary" run by a Madam Bigot. Her father E.D. Beach, was "one of the most prominent physicians" in New Orleans. His first name, Erasmus, and middle name, Darwin, speak of well-educated parents of his own. Dr. Beach "took the highest interest in civic matters" and served as a member of the school board. He was twice elected coroner, and investigations into causes of death spurred him to work successfully for regulation of steamboat boiler construction and railroad crossings. After retirement he continued to serve the poor. He was an active Methodist layman throughout his life. A fellow congregant recalled that "[h]e was a man of strong personality" with "definite convictions and the power of independent action," and that he had done "a vast amount of good among many people of all classes and creeds."
Dr. Beach's commitment to working with the poor and his concern for those "of all classes and creeds" were traits that he passed along to his daughter, Elvira, who at age twenty married a lumber mill owner about thirteen years older than she. Her husband died some fifteen years later, in 1877. In 1891, a local publication, Louisiana review, profiled Carré in a section called, "What Women Are Doing—Gifted Louisiana Women" and noted that she had successfully managed the lumber mill after her husband's death. Observing that she was a slender brunette of medium height, with "large dark eyes...full of intelligence and kindliness," the author seemed surprised to find that she was "essentially feminine in appearance and manner and one would never imagine that beneath that gentle face and quiet manner was the strength of will and intellect of a man."
As discussed in the introduction, women of the late 1800s and early 1900s were expected to confine themselves to the so-called "women's sphere," and the "Cult of True Womanhood" was deeply rooted in religious authority. The necessary qualities for "True Womanhood" were piety, domesticity, and submissiveness, and it is an interesting exercise to analyze the article about Carré in light of this description and the "True Methodist Womanhood" that Jean Miller Schmidt devised from it.
Designation as a "devoted member" of her church and an "active worker" on the board of the Christian Woman's Exchange testified to Carré's piety. Speaking of her life before her husband's death, the Louisiana review informed readers that it "had been a quiet and secluded one up to that time, devoted to domestic duties and social pleasures." This definitely speaks of the dutiful wife who does not step out of her place.
She was the mother of seven children including a son who died just before he turned two, and daughters who died at the ages of eight and ten. The four remaining children were sons, and it was for them that she rescued the lumber mill when in nearly failed because of poor management after her husband's death. First, she hired an accountant to teach her to keep books, and then took over the running of the business herself. Nevertheless, readers were reassured that Carré was "always devoted to her home life" and that she had "never, in her busiest years, relinquished the management of her domestic affairs." Thus, she properly displayed domesticity.
transcribed by ahwahneeliz
The relative tolerance, open-mindedness, and lack of class consciousness displayed by Joyner and by the other MECS women reflected the attitudes of Elvira Beach Carré, who was both Joyner's personal mentor and a woman who held an extraordinarily powerful leadership role in the New Orleans women's work. Regarded as "a tower of strength to Methodism in Louisiana" who was "universally esteemed and honored," she was chosen by the WP&HMS members across New Orleans to lead their city mission board as president for an astonishing nineteen years. Elected to the position in 1892, when the group first organized Elvira Beach Carré shape the Social Gospel ministries in New Orleans during three of the movement's most vital decades.
Born in Ohio in 1842, she moved to New Orleans with her family when she was four years old, attended public schools, and graduated from a "female seminary" run by a Madam Bigot. Her father E.D. Beach, was "one of the most prominent physicians" in New Orleans. His first name, Erasmus, and middle name, Darwin, speak of well-educated parents of his own. Dr. Beach "took the highest interest in civic matters" and served as a member of the school board. He was twice elected coroner, and investigations into causes of death spurred him to work successfully for regulation of steamboat boiler construction and railroad crossings. After retirement he continued to serve the poor. He was an active Methodist layman throughout his life. A fellow congregant recalled that "[h]e was a man of strong personality" with "definite convictions and the power of independent action," and that he had done "a vast amount of good among many people of all classes and creeds."
Dr. Beach's commitment to working with the poor and his concern for those "of all classes and creeds" were traits that he passed along to his daughter, Elvira, who at age twenty married a lumber mill owner about thirteen years older than she. Her husband died some fifteen years later, in 1877. In 1891, a local publication, Louisiana review, profiled Carré in a section called, "What Women Are Doing—Gifted Louisiana Women" and noted that she had successfully managed the lumber mill after her husband's death. Observing that she was a slender brunette of medium height, with "large dark eyes...full of intelligence and kindliness," the author seemed surprised to find that she was "essentially feminine in appearance and manner and one would never imagine that beneath that gentle face and quiet manner was the strength of will and intellect of a man."
As discussed in the introduction, women of the late 1800s and early 1900s were expected to confine themselves to the so-called "women's sphere," and the "Cult of True Womanhood" was deeply rooted in religious authority. The necessary qualities for "True Womanhood" were piety, domesticity, and submissiveness, and it is an interesting exercise to analyze the article about Carré in light of this description and the "True Methodist Womanhood" that Jean Miller Schmidt devised from it.
Designation as a "devoted member" of her church and an "active worker" on the board of the Christian Woman's Exchange testified to Carré's piety. Speaking of her life before her husband's death, the Louisiana review informed readers that it "had been a quiet and secluded one up to that time, devoted to domestic duties and social pleasures." This definitely speaks of the dutiful wife who does not step out of her place.
She was the mother of seven children including a son who died just before he turned two, and daughters who died at the ages of eight and ten. The four remaining children were sons, and it was for them that she rescued the lumber mill when in nearly failed because of poor management after her husband's death. First, she hired an accountant to teach her to keep books, and then took over the running of the business herself. Nevertheless, readers were reassured that Carré was "always devoted to her home life" and that she had "never, in her busiest years, relinquished the management of her domestic affairs." Thus, she properly displayed domesticity.
transcribed by ahwahneeliz
ELVIRA BEACH CARRE SHAPES MECS WOMEN'S WORK page 47-48
The relative tolerance, open-mindedness, and lack of class consciousness displayed by Joyner and by the other MECS women reflected the attitudes of Elvira Beach Carré, who was both Joyner's personal mentor and a woman who held an extraordinarily powerful leadership role in the New Orleans women's work. Regarded as "a tower of strength to Methodism in Louisiana" who was "universally esteemed and honored," she was chosen by the WP&HMS members across New Orleans to lead their city mission board as president for an astonishing nineteen years. Elected to the position in 1892, when the group first organized Elvira Beach Carré shape the Social Gospel ministries in New Orleans during three of the movement's most vital decades.
Born in Ohio in 1842, she moved to New Orleans with her family when she was four years old, attended public schools, and graduated from a "female seminary" run by a Madam Bigot. Her father E.D. Beach, was "one of the most prominent physicians" in New Orleans. His first name, Erasmus, and middle name, Darwin, speak of well-educated parents of his own. Dr. Beach "took the highest interest in civic matters" and served as a member of the school board. He was twice elected coroner, and investigations into causes of death spurred him to work successfully for regulation of steamboat boiler construction and railroad crossings. After retirement he continued to serve the poor. He was an active Methodist layman throughout his life. A fellow congregant recalled that "[h]e was a man of strong personality" with "definite convictions and the power of independent action," and that he had done "a vast amount of good among many people of all classes and creeds."
Dr. Beach's commitment to working with the poor and his concern for those "of all classes and creeds" were traits that he passed along to his daughter, Elvira, who at age twenty married a lumber mill owner about thirteen years older than she. Her husband died some fifteen years later, in 1877. In 1891, a local publication, Louisiana review, profiled Carré in a section called, "What Women Are Doing—Gifted Louisiana Women" and noted that she had successfully managed the lumber mill after her husband's death. Observing that she was a slender brunette of medium height, with "large dark eyes...full of intelligence and kindliness," the author seemed surprised to find that she was "essentially feminine in appearance and manner and one would never imagine that beneath that gentle face and quiet manner was the strength of will and intellect of a man."
As discussed in the introduction, women of the late 1800s and early 1900s were expected to confine themselves to the so-called "women's sphere," and the "Cult of True Womanhood" was deeply rooted in religious authority. The necessary qualities for "True Womanhood" were piety, domesticity, and submissiveness, and it is an interesting exercise to analyze the article about Carré in light of this description and the "True Methodist Womanhood" that Jean Miller Schmidt devised from it.
Designation as a "devoted member" of her church and an "active worker" on the board of the Christian Woman's Exchange testified to Carré's piety. Speaking of her life before her husband's death, the Louisiana review informed readers that it "had been a quiet and secluded one up to that time, devoted to domestic duties and social pleasures." This definitely speaks of the dutiful wife who does not step out of her place.
She was the mother of seven children including a son who died just before he turned two, and daughters who died at the ages of eight and ten. The four remaining children were sons, and it was for them that she rescued the lumber mill when in nearly failed because of poor management after her husband's death. First, she hired an accountant to teach her to keep books, and then took over the running of the business herself. Nevertheless, readers were reassured that Carré was "always devoted to her home life" and that she had "never, in her busiest years, relinquished the management of her domestic affairs." Thus, she properly displayed domesticity.
transcribed by ahwahneeliz
The relative tolerance, open-mindedness, and lack of class consciousness displayed by Joyner and by the other MECS women reflected the attitudes of Elvira Beach Carré, who was both Joyner's personal mentor and a woman who held an extraordinarily powerful leadership role in the New Orleans women's work. Regarded as "a tower of strength to Methodism in Louisiana" who was "universally esteemed and honored," she was chosen by the WP&HMS members across New Orleans to lead their city mission board as president for an astonishing nineteen years. Elected to the position in 1892, when the group first organized Elvira Beach Carré shape the Social Gospel ministries in New Orleans during three of the movement's most vital decades.
Born in Ohio in 1842, she moved to New Orleans with her family when she was four years old, attended public schools, and graduated from a "female seminary" run by a Madam Bigot. Her father E.D. Beach, was "one of the most prominent physicians" in New Orleans. His first name, Erasmus, and middle name, Darwin, speak of well-educated parents of his own. Dr. Beach "took the highest interest in civic matters" and served as a member of the school board. He was twice elected coroner, and investigations into causes of death spurred him to work successfully for regulation of steamboat boiler construction and railroad crossings. After retirement he continued to serve the poor. He was an active Methodist layman throughout his life. A fellow congregant recalled that "[h]e was a man of strong personality" with "definite convictions and the power of independent action," and that he had done "a vast amount of good among many people of all classes and creeds."
Dr. Beach's commitment to working with the poor and his concern for those "of all classes and creeds" were traits that he passed along to his daughter, Elvira, who at age twenty married a lumber mill owner about thirteen years older than she. Her husband died some fifteen years later, in 1877. In 1891, a local publication, Louisiana review, profiled Carré in a section called, "What Women Are Doing—Gifted Louisiana Women" and noted that she had successfully managed the lumber mill after her husband's death. Observing that she was a slender brunette of medium height, with "large dark eyes...full of intelligence and kindliness," the author seemed surprised to find that she was "essentially feminine in appearance and manner and one would never imagine that beneath that gentle face and quiet manner was the strength of will and intellect of a man."
As discussed in the introduction, women of the late 1800s and early 1900s were expected to confine themselves to the so-called "women's sphere," and the "Cult of True Womanhood" was deeply rooted in religious authority. The necessary qualities for "True Womanhood" were piety, domesticity, and submissiveness, and it is an interesting exercise to analyze the article about Carré in light of this description and the "True Methodist Womanhood" that Jean Miller Schmidt devised from it.
Designation as a "devoted member" of her church and an "active worker" on the board of the Christian Woman's Exchange testified to Carré's piety. Speaking of her life before her husband's death, the Louisiana review informed readers that it "had been a quiet and secluded one up to that time, devoted to domestic duties and social pleasures." This definitely speaks of the dutiful wife who does not step out of her place.
She was the mother of seven children including a son who died just before he turned two, and daughters who died at the ages of eight and ten. The four remaining children were sons, and it was for them that she rescued the lumber mill when in nearly failed because of poor management after her husband's death. First, she hired an accountant to teach her to keep books, and then took over the running of the business herself. Nevertheless, readers were reassured that Carré was "always devoted to her home life" and that she had "never, in her busiest years, relinquished the management of her domestic affairs." Thus, she properly displayed domesticity.
transcribed by ahwahneeliz
Gravesite Details
Age 82, Name on Plot Beach-Carre, Date of Burial 5/29/1924, Ref: Cemetery Records
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