WWI, Ada Kepley and Patriotism

Visitors to the Effingham County Museum can learn much about a person who is a major figure in women’s history, whether locally, nationally or globally.

There are displays on the walls, in glass cabinets, and a presentation on a video monitor, as well as artifacts that tell the story of Ada Kepley — attorney, preacher, advocate for women’s right to vote, newspaper editor, protector of animals, author, political figure, farmer, etc. There are also items that show her desire to make sure that music was part of people’s lives, and that certain themes, or thought patterns, were part of her community.

Galleries 3 and 4 contain a drum used by Kepley’s “Band of Hope,” “Effingham Town and County Song Book,” and framed copies of sheet music that she composed. Those framed copies reflect Kepley’s values of patriotism.

On Feb 4, 1901, Effingham’s local Bar Association gathered at the Opera House to celebrate John Marshall Day, in commemoration of the day when, in 1801, John Marshall took his oath as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Locally, there were five speakers, with Ada Kepley being the only female member of the group. A local newspaper described her role this way: “Ada H. Kepley was the last speaker of the evening at the opera house, her subject being ‘Marshall as a Patriot.’ …

In her speech she stated: “We cannot all hope to possess the native powers that shall make us mighty in the State, and in nature and, or in places that demand the possession of the highest powers, but we may all, however humble our endowments, possess and practice the virtue of patriotism, and so help to perpetuate our institutions; we can be pure of heart, and as guileless, as faithful church men and women and as honest, earnest a Christian as John Marshall; we can be patient and gentle and kind and helpful to all; we can read the books he read and master their noble ideas; we can learn to dream dreams and see visions of our country’s good; we can study the great book of nature, and be humble before Him by whom it was made. We can reverence our fathers and our mothers, giving them no cause for offense; we can teach the children the same virtues, as elemental to the highest patriotism.”

⇒  Read the entire article on the Yahoo! Life website.
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