LCV Spring 2013 - (Page 59)

“woman’s sphere,” and this expectation was deeply rooted in religious authority. the prevailing ideology of the era dictated that a “true woman” must demonstrate piety, domesticity and submissiveness. the Louisiana Review applied these attributes to Carré. designation as a “devoted member” of her church and an “active worker” on the Christian woman’s Exchange board testified to Carré’s piety. the Louisiana Review informed readers that before her husband’s death, Carré’s life “had been a quiet and secluded one ... devoted to domestic duties and social pleasures.” this describes a dutiful wife who did not step out of her place. she was the mother of seven children, including a son who died before he turned two and daughters who died at the ages of eight and ten. the four others were sons, and it was for them that she rescued the lumber mill when it nearly failed because of poor management after her husband’s death. Carré hired an accountant to teach her bookkeeping and then took command of the lumber business. 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 displayed domesticity. Gender roles put powerful limitations on southern women during Carré’s lifetime. methodist historian Jean miller schmidt identified four options for methodist women whose lives were constrained by the “woman’s sphere.” one was enlarging the accepted “sphere” even while emphasizing their devotion to traditional duties and roles. the depiction of Carré by the Louisiana Review is an excellent example of a woman who chose this route for shaping her identity. those “busiest years” which the author referred to were busy indeed, for Carré worked at the office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for four years and later completed the same tasks working from home. Even after her sons were old enough to manage the lumber mill, she remained extremely active in church and community. she once served as president of six organizations at the same time and was eventually made the “honorary Life President” of five. she embodied the concept of consolidating the power of various groups. the deaths of three children would not have been so unexpected then as today, but they would be no less devastating to a mother. though Carré did retreat for some time to the family’s vacation home at a methodist campground in tennessee after at least one of her daughters’ deaths, she always returned to pick up her responsibilities. her activity might even have been part of her strategy for coping with grief. Carré had countless options for channeling her energies, and her choice of charitable works reveals her philosophical and The St. Mark’s staff gathered here on Easter Day 1930 included Lillian Addison, Wortley Moorman, Nettie Stroup, Margaret Marshall and Bess Sargent. theological bent. significantly, she was instrumental in organizing the new orleans unit of the Young women’s Christian association (YwCa) and served as its president for its first two years. this affiliation with a group dedicated to cross-racial cooperation signaled her commitment to improving race relations. BREAKING SOCIETAL NORMS the City mission Board wanted to augment the work on tchoupitoulas street with a location below Canal street to serve the large numbers of italian immigrants settling in the french Quarter and surrounding neighborhoods. the board leased a dilapidated double house at 619-21 Esplanade ave. and called it st. mark’s hall. one of Carré’s sons entered the ministry, later teaching at Vanderbilt university in nashville, tennessee, and serving as president of Centenary College in shreveport. Carré generously paid for the college and seminary education of nicholas Joyner, her son’s close friend. Joyner was hired as the first superintendent of st. mark’s, and Carré sent him to toynbee house in London While there were undeniably matronizing aspects of the white Methodist women’s concern, when viewed against the backdrop of that era, the women’s policies were unarguably enlightened. Spring 2013 • Louisiana CuLturaL Vistas 59 

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LCV Spring 2013

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