Annah Robinson Watson (1848–1930) was an American author, the founding member and president of the Nineteenth Century Club, and a collector of

American folklore American folklore encompasses the folklore that has evolved in the present-day United States mostly since the European colonization of the Americas. It also contains folklore that dates back to the Pre-Columbian era, Pre-Columbian era. Folklor ...

Early life

Watson was born Annah Walker Robinson on the Taylor homestead, "Springfields", near

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, to Mary Louise Taylor Robinson and Archibald Magill Robinson., she was the granddaughter of Hancock Taylor, a brother of President Zachariah Taylor. Watson was described as a "romantic, poetic, imaginative child". After some years in the countryside, her family moved to Louisville, and Watson received an education there and later in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Written works

After completing her studies, she entered society as a poet. She continued to write, publishing "Baby's Mission", which received widespread popularity and was published in the London journal ''Chatterbox''. She also won a contest in the New York ''Churchman'' for best lullaby. In addition to publishing many poems and prose works under her own name, she also extensively published unsigned work, including reviews and editorials. In 1870 Watson married James H. Watson, the son of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

judge John William Clark Watson. She later settled with her family in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, where her husband practiced law. She published tales and superstitions collected from African-American peoples, apparently in the dialect of the teller, and speculated on a type of

ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

racialism Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscientific belief that the human species is divided into biologically distinct taxa called " races", and that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racial discri ...

. Her works include ''Some Notable Families of America'', ''Of Sceptred Race'', ''Passion Flowers'' and a paper—"Comparative Afro-American Folk-Lore"—read at the International Folk-Lore Congress of the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

of 1893. In Memphis, Watson was a founding member and third president of the Nineteenth Century Club, the largest woman's club in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. At the time, clubs were viewed as schools where women were able to extend their intellectual endeavors. The club was tied to the

Women's suffrage movement Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

, though the members made it clear that theirs was a very feminine brand of activism, often justified with explanations of how it helped women to become better in family life. Although Watson cautioned against pursuing activism at the expense of the family, she noted "a new sense of power and capacity among American women", and published ''The New Woman of the New South & the Attitude of Southern Women on the Suffrage Question'' with

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

Josephine Henry Josephine Kirby Henry (February 22, 1846 – January 8, 1928) was an American Progressive Era women's rights leader, suffragist, social reformer, and writer from Versailles, Kentucky in the United States. Henry was a strong advocate for women and ...

in 1895. In 1913, General James Grant Wilson submitted Watson's poem titled "The Siege of Vicksburg, a Battle of the Bluffs" on her behalf for the 43rd reunion of the Society of the

Army of the Tennessee The Army of the Tennessee was a Union Army, Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River. A 2005 study of the army states that it "was present at most of the great battles that became turning points ...

. In 1914, Watson published ''Golden Deeds on the Field of Honor: Stories of Young American Heroes'', which focuses on the Civil War, primarily from the Southern perspective.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Annah Robinson American ethnologists Women ethnologists Writers from Tennessee American folklorists American women folklorists 1848 births 1930 deaths