Sophie Bell Wright
Portrait of an older woman with white hair. She is seated with her head leaning into her hand.
Sophie Bell Wright, from a 1909 newspaper.
Born(1866-06-05)5 June 1866
New Orleans
Died10 June 1912(1912-06-10) (aged 46)
New Orleans
Occupation(s)Educator, philanthropist

Sophie Bell Wright (June 5, 1866 – June 10, 1912) was an American educator from New Orleans, Louisiana. In recent years, Wright's membership in the Daughters of the Confederacy has led to calls for a reconsideration of her legacy.

Early years

Wright was born in New Orleans, the daughter of William H. Wright, a Scottish immigrant, and Mary Bell Wright, from a Southern planter family. Her family was wealthy before the American Civil War, and her father was a Confederate States Army veteran. As a small child, Wright survived a fall with spinal and pelvic injuries that resulted in lifelong physical disabilities.[1]

Unable to walk to school as a little girl, she was educated at home by her father, and showed an aptitude for mathematics. Eventually she learned to use crutches and wore a back brace to attend school. She taught mathematics in exchange for her tuition at the Peabody Normal Seminary in New Orleans.[2]

Career

In her teens, Wright began teaching, converting a room in her family's home into a classroom for day students.[3] She started a boarding school, several free schools and a very popular night school for working adults, with a faculty of forty teachers and hundreds of students.[4][5]

Wright petitioned for a children's annex for the city's "Home for Incurables", and was president of the Home for Incurables. During the 1897 yellow fever epidemic, she spent all her money to turn her school into a storehouse, and distribute clothing, food, and medicine to the sick in her neighborhood.[4] For this and other acts of sacrifice and charity, she was sometimes called "Saint Sophie."[6]

Wright was also active in the prison reform movement, projects to build public playgrounds, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She was president of the New Orleans Woman's Club, and published a collection of advice essays, Heart to Heart Talks (1908). She was honored by the National Congress of Mothers, and a leader in the International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons.[1]

In 1903, Wright as the first woman to be awarded the Daily Picayune Loving Cup, given to New Orleans residents who exhibited outstanding philanthropy. Along with the award, she was given $10,000 to pay off her school's mortgage.[3][4]

Personal life

Wright died from heart disease at her home in New Orleans on June 10, 1912,[7][8] aged 46 years, and was buried in Metairie Cemetery.[9] New Orleans has a school[10] and a street named after her, as well as a statue of her on Magazine Street.[1]

Controversy in 2020

Though honored for her social activism and philanthropy during her lifetime, Wright's membership in the Daughters of the Confederacy[11] led in 2020 to calls for a reconsideration of her legacy, and the removal of her monument in the Garden District of New Orleans.[12][13]

This statue of Wright by Enrique Alférez was erected in 1988.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jumonville, Florence M. (2000). "Wright, Sophie Bell (1866-1912), educator and humanitarian". American National Biography. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0900963. ISBN 978-0-19-860669-7. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  2. ↑ James, Edward T.; James, Janet Wilson; Boyer, Paul S.; College, Radcliffe (1971). Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. pp. 687–688. ISBN 978-0-674-62734-5.
  3. 1 2 "Sophie B. Wright". The Historic New Orleans Collection. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Sophie B. Wright". 64 Parishes. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  5. ↑ Cott, Nancy F. (2000). No Small Courage: A History of Women in the United States. Oxford University Press. p. 300. ISBN 978-0-19-517323-9.
  6. ↑ Scott, Mike Scott (July 12, 2019). "How a sickly 14-year-old became 'the South's most useful citizen'". NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Deplore Death of Miss Wright". The Times-Democrat. June 22, 1912. p. 16. Retrieved July 1, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Sophie Wright; Great Force for Good, is No More". St. Landry Clarion. June 15, 1912. p. 1. Retrieved July 1, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Sophie Wright Dead of a Broken Heart". The Sun. New Orleans. June 10, 1912. p. 9. Retrieved June 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "School is Dedicated". The Times-Democrat. April 10, 1912. p. 16. Retrieved July 1, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Wheeler, Edward Jewitt; Funk, Isaac Kaufman; Woods, William Seaver (1912). The Literary Digest.
  12. ↑ "The Symbols". #TakeEmDownNOLA. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
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