Mary Hilliard Hinton (June 7, 1869 – January 6, 1961) was an American painter, historian, clubwoman, and political activist. She was a leader in North Carolina's

anti-suffragist Anti-suffragism was a political movement composed of both men and women that began in the late 19th century in order to campaign against women's suffrage in countries such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. To ...

movement and an outspoken

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

, co-founding and running North Carolina's branches of the States Rights Defense League and the Southern Rejection League. A prominent

clubwoman The club movement is an American women's social movement that started in the mid-19th century and spread throughout the United States. It established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While wome ...

, Hinton was active in the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

, the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, a ...

, the

Colonial Dames of America The Colonial Dames of America (CDA) is an American organization comprising women who descend from one or more ancestors who lived in British North America between 1607 and 1775, and who aided the colonies in public office, in military service, or ...

, and the

National Society of the Colonial Dames of America The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America (often abbreviated as NSCDA) is an American lineage society composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1776, and whose services wer ...

; serving as a booklet editor, artist, registrar, and state regent for the North Carolina Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Biography

Hinton was born on June 7, 1869, at Midway Plantation, her family's plantation in

Wake County Wake County, officially the County of Wake, is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake Count ...

(now part of Knightdale). She was the daughter of Major David Hinton, a planter,

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

officer and alumnus of the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

, and his wife Mary Boddie Carr, a sister of Governor Elias Carr of

Bracebridge Hall ''Bracebridge Hall, or The Humorists, A Medley'' was written by Washington Irving in 1821, while he lived in England, and published in 1822. This episodic novel was originally published under his pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon. Plot introduction As ...

Tarboro Tarboro is a town located in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 10,721. It is the county seat of Edgecombe County. The town is o ...

and cousin of industrialist Julian Carr of Poplar Hill Plantation in Hillsborough and Somerset Villa in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

. Her paternal grandfather, Charles Lewis Hinton, served as the

North Carolina State Treasurer The North Carolina State Treasurer is a statewide elected office in the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina responsible for overseeing the financial operations of state government. The current state treasurer is Brad Briner. The office o ...

. Her father's family also owned the nearby River Plantation, The Oaks Plantation, Beaver Dam Plantation, Clay Hill Plantation, Square Brick Plantation, and Panther Rock Plantation. She was a descendant of Colonel John Hinton, who served in the Wake County Regiment of the

Hillsborough District Brigade The Hillsborough District Brigade of militia was an administrative division of the North Carolina militia established on May 4, 1776. Thomas Person, Brigadier General Thomas Person was the first commander. Companies from the eight regiments of t ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Through her mother, she was a relative of the Boddie family, who owned Rose Hill Plantation in Nash County. Midway Plantation House

She was educated at Saint Mary's School and the Peace Institute. Hinton studied

portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

under Ruth Huntington Moore, an artist who served on the faculty at Peace Institute. Hinton was an active

and was a member of multiple lineage societies, including the

, the

, the Order of the Crown of America, and the Daughters of the Barons of Runnemede. She held the positions of registrar, state regent, and heraldic artist for the North Carolina Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was an editor of the society's North Carolina Booklet, where she would write about North Carolinian history. Hinton also served as the chairwoman of the art department of the Raleigh Woman's Club, and was a member of the

Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

, North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, the

Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

, and the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

. She was a leading worker in the Anti-Suffrage League, petitioning and actively working against the Women's suffrage movement in the United States, disenfranchising African-Americans, and upholding

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

. Hinton argued against enfranchising women and co-organized two of North Carolina's anti-suffrage associations, the States Rights Defense League and the Southern Rejection League. She also promoted the

Lost Cause of the Confederacy The Lost Cause of the Confederacy, known simply as the Lost Cause, is an American pseudohistory, pseudohistorical and historical negationist myth that argues the cause of the Confederate States of America, Confederate States during the America ...

, romanticized

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, and glorified the

Antebellum South The ''Antebellum'' South era (from ) was a period in the history of the Southern United States that extended from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. This era was marked by the prevalent practic ...

in her writings, particularly in her article titled ''A Type of the Old South''. Hinton was a practicing

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

and a parishioner at Christ Episcopal Church in Raleigh. She died at Midway Plantation on January 6, 1961, and is buried in the Hinton family cemetery at The Oaks Plantation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinton, Mary Hilliard 1869 births 1961 deaths 19th-century American women painters 19th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters 20th-century American painters American portrait painters American women editors American editors American women historians

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

Colonial Dames of America Episcopalians from North Carolina Members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy National Audubon Society National Geographic Society Members of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America Painters from North Carolina People from Knightdale, North Carolina William Peace University alumni St. Mary's School (North Carolina) alumni American anti-suffragists State Regents of the Daughters of the American Revolution