13 www.CharlestonWomenPodcast.com | www.ReadCW.com | www.Instagram.com/CharlestonWomen of the work force for these entrepreneurs. Kelly closed her school in 1896 and, at the age of 52, went to Europe to study sericulture (the raising of silkworms for silk production) alongside proteges of the renowned biologist Louis Pasteur at the Sorbonne in Paris, Geneva and Cambridge. She became an expert on the subject and accused the U.S. government of previously relying on novices who were not properly trained in the biology and care of mulberry worms. In 1899, she solicited the help of South Carolina’s governor and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and subsequently obtained federal aid to fund experimental scientific stations to grow different varieties of mulberry trees. Her friends in Italy sent her a thousand trees to plant on two properties they owned in Summerville: Hope Plantation and Rosebank Plantation. Kelly feared that, as a woman, her ideas might be dismissed so she met with prominent men to sell them on her plan. She participated in the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition in 1901, a yearlong event akin to a world’s fair that was held at Hampton Park, where entrepreneurs exhibited their new inventions, discoveries and ventures. There, Kelly displayed drawings of the life cycle of the worm and actual cocoons (from which silk is unwound) and subsequently published a book entitled “Silkworm Culture,” which is available at the Charleston County Library and on Amazon. PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE Kelly was never able to procure federal funds for a women’s agricultural school and when the government appropriations for her experimental stations were exhausted after five years, she discontinued her attempts to establish the Lowcountry silk industry. But she had no intention of slipping quietly into her twilight years. Fluent in several languages, at age 61 Kelly moved to California to attend the University of California, Berkeley and further her study of linguistics. She still had hopes that someone would take up her crusade and establish an agricultural school for budding sericulturists to learn how to raise silkworms, offering 100 mulberry trees to get things started. However, by the 1920s, the price of silk from Europe and Asia had dropped, spurring a demand in America for the imported product and stymying any interest in producing it at home. Kelly’s life exemplifies one woman’s pursuit of knowledge, not only for her own sake but for the betterment of the lives of others, just as she had urged her students to do. Her efforts to promote education and entrepreneurship for women at a time when the world marginalized such opportunities deserve acclaim and should serve as a model for women in the 21st century, just as they did in the past. Features Miss Kelly’s School 50 St. Philip St. Photo Provided by the Library of Congress. Luxury venue for weddings, photoshoots & special events Visit VenueSpringfieldEstates.com to learn more Georgetown, SC 29440 Michelle Blackstock (843) 904-5240
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjcyNTM1