The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946 Page: 364
717 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
the Chicago politician who later ruined his chances there, but
Robert only laughed at her. On entering certain houses or
rooms, she was instantly depressed, for she sensed something
spiritually unclean in the atmosphere. The skeptic may smile
if he wishes; it is still extraordinary how many of her pre-
monitions were justified. William James, who wrote The Va-
rieties of Religious Experience, would have had no trouble in
understanding her.
Amelia Barr's most striking mystical experiences were in the
form of prophetic dreams. Her autobiography, AU the Days of
My Life, is replete with accounts of them, so vivid, so sharply
etched as almost to startle the reader. He remembers her
dreams as his own. As to her sincerity in relating these ex-
periences, there can be no doubt whatever.
Probably few persons outside her own family circle knew
the mystical Amelia. Others saw no more than a cheerful,
amiable, good-looking young woman in fine health, possessing
a ready sense of humor, keen intelligence, and many accom-
plishments. She had a personality that attracted and deserved
friends, and she made many wherever she went.
A strong feminist, Amelia Barr saw that women were held
back by the ruling sex, and she longed for the day she knew
was coming when women would have opportunities to do the
things of which they were capable. Though liking men, she
resented their conceit. No matter how ugly a man may be,
she once remarked, he still thinks he is attractive to women.
Let any honest man deny the charge.
On her voyage down the Mississippi to Memphis, Amelia
made her first observation of the chivalrous attentions shown
by southern men to their womenfolk. More than fifty years
later, she wrote:
I never before saw such handsome, courtly men, such lovely, languorous,
beautifully dressed women. I never before saw women treated as if they
were angels and children as if they were cherubims, and what could I
think of men who appeared to serve every woman upon their knees? It
was not only the young and beautiful who were thus adored. There were
several aged women present, and they received the same attentions, affec-
tionately mingled with a respect that was almost veneration. It bewildered
me. I longed for all the Scotchmen and Englishmen I ever knew to be
on the Mississippi with me. I took great pains when I wrote my next
letter home to enlarge on this peculiarity of Southern gentlemen, and to
give it all the praise it merited.
The Barrs took up their residence in Austin in the Smith364
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946, periodical, 1946; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146056/m1/419/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.