Blount Mansion is proud to present Emma Patterson speaking on “Women of the Progressive Era in Appalachia”

Emma Patterson is a senior at the University of Tennessee, graduating in the Spring of 2026. As a student in the Honors History Program, her honors thesis explores the role of women reformers in Appalachia during the Progressive Era. Her research interests include Southern history, American religious history, and women’s history. Emma’s honors thesis focuses on the nature of women’s reform at the turn of the century through the life of Helen Dingman.

Helen Dingman was a missionary and reformer in Appalachia. From 1917-1922, she was a community worker in Harlan County, Kentucky. During the 1920s and 1930s, Helen Dingman worked as faculty member at Berea College and served as the Executive Secretary of the Conference of Southern Mountain Workers, an intraregional body dedicated to “mountain work.” Though her efforts were centered in eastern Kentucky, she spent a considerable amount of time in Tennessee. The Conference of Southern Mountain Workers held its annual meeting in Knoxville each spring. In April of 1926 Dingman attended the conference as editor of Mountain Life & Work, a publication of this body.

Additionally, 1926 was the year the Blount Mansion Association opened as a museum. On November 20, 1925, Mary Boyce Temple signed a check for the Blount Mansion property. She then worked to raise funds for the establishment of the Blount Mansion Association which is celebrating its centennial anniversary throughout 2026.

While these women were involved in very different aspects of regional Progressive Era reform, Dingman as a mountain missionary and Temple as a local club woman, both dedicated their lives and careers to the philanthropies of the Progressive Era. My lecture will discuss the distinction between life in urban and rural areas of Appalachia and connect these two women’s stories to broader themes defining this region at the turn of the century.

• Lecture will start at 6pm
• The special speaking event will be at Blount Mansion Visitors Center, 200 West Hill Avenue, Knoxville TN 37902.
• Limited free parking onsite
• $10 Donation suggested at the door. Cash and card accepted
• RSVP to Rose@BlountMansion.org

For Donations & Memberships to the Blount Mansion Association, please make your tax deductible gift here.

For Donations to our Blount Mansion Centennial Endowment Fund, please make your tax deductible gift here.