‘Washington Research Library Consortium Mail - AU Lending Request _hitps://mail.google.com/mail/w/0/ui: lof %23:4.Ux437 : BABY ashington « ey requests, WRLC ‘onsortium AU Lending Request 1 message AU Interlibrary Loan ‘Thu, May 8, 2014 at 10:20 AM ‘To: requests@wrlc.org ILA: 125461806 Fulfiled by the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) Shared Collections Facilty From the collection of: EAU, American University ILL - Lending, American University Library ILu0D 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20016 aull@american.edu 202-885-3260 Supplying Library's TN: 220105 Article Information: Call Number: Location: storage Barcode: 3+404007652278 Journal Title: The National geographic magazine. ISSN: 1044-6613 Article Author: Article Tile: ,; THE EMANCIPATION OF MOHAMMEDAN WOMEN. Journal Vol: 20. Journal issue: 1 Journal Month: Journal Year: 1909-01-01 Article Pages: 42-66 Please deliver via Article Exchange to: TAC, ILL DePaul Univ. Library ILL 2350 N. Kenmore Ave. Chicago Ilinois 60614 United States Email interlib@depaui.edu Odyssey IP: 206.107.4224 Delivery Method: Normal ‘Special instructions: Requesting Library's TN: 158173 5/8/2014 10:22. AMTHE EMANCIPATION OF MOHAMMEDAN WOMEN By Mary Mixis Parrick, Pu. D. PRESIDENT OP TINE AMERICAN COLLEGE FOR GiRLS AT CONSTANTINOPLE OMEN in the harems have ‘been an unknown quantity to the outside world during the ages that have past, Their lives have ‘ben shrouded in mystery. In the streets they have been concealed behind thick wells and Bowring draperies, and. hidden Behind Heavy curtaint and Taticed. win. dows in thet homes Until the 23d of Joly last Constanti- rople wa like'n medieval ety. In fat it was the only chy tn Europe. which Trad remamed wholly without the ont teard’ appurtenances of modern chili local pest telephones, nor sewage sys dem. PEhousanas of dogs acted a5 stav- fngers in the regular and badly paved streets. Rising. alove this medley of Grental life the slender minarets. of Trundreds ‘of mosques ‘pointed. 60" the golden shy. Th this Curious setting the women of the harems stood out a8 the most inter feting feature. of Mohammedan fe ‘The silent heavily draped Fayre threading their way’ in an out of the Sree, Bazars) and. shops, seated mo tionlesily tn eit calgues’on the Bos Boras, or dimly. seen behind tatticed trindows, filed! the place with mysteriogs Tite atom the 2gth of fly all ths was changed, as in the twinkling of an Se, the onderworng revtiton preparation by the Young Turkey party Fe brow insant freedom to all asses in Tutkey Mohammedan women on that day be- of this freedom wil, from the nature of the ‘ease; be somewhat gradual, bit ‘morally their freedom has been complete Since the Conssniton was announced hey played an important part in the bloodless revolution of July 24. The makers of New Turkey live mostly abroad, but the Society of Union and Progeess penetrated every town and vi lage in the Torkish Empire ‘Espionage was so severe that promi nent men did not dare to meet together to discuss plans. They could not even give two dinner parties in without exciting suspic women who overcame this. difficulty Thousands of letters containing the plans for the coup d'etat of July 24 were patiently carried back and forth between the members of the Society of Union and Progress by them, ‘They were handed from one worsan to another, and secretly given to the husbands as they met each ther in the streets and in the shops, ap- parently innocent of any politieal Schem- ng. A few Turkish women managed to ade the law against leaving the country, and went t Paris and other places to openly assist in the organization of the Young Turkey party. Yet most of their aid was given in secret, All throsgh Albania, Macedonia, and the Turkish Empire Mohammedan women have been alive to every step of progress made, YURKISH WOMEN FoR CENTURIES TAVE YER POSSrSsHS ‘The training of Mohammedan women through the long. centiries that have passed has sted them to take an active find effective. part in political affairs ‘The life of the women in the harems has been ationaionsy slaves on the one hand, whose value “and ‘happiness depended largely upon their beanty and ability to please a master who could divorce them lip single word, but on the other hand‘THE EMANCIPATION OF they have enjoyed privileges _which Jor centuries to obtain It was believed by the followers 0 Mohammed, the Prophet of Islan, that the Koran, which was collection of his ying, would be able to deal adeqsately wri the egal aspects of soe Te rove to which no reference oul be found in the Koran.” Under these c= ciaistanees an adiitional code of laws trae necessary. ‘The caliphate hd been transferred from Mecea to Bagdad, and the leading. Aohammedans, seeking. for fmol en which to. base their Code, turned to the Roman emperors at Cow tantinople. and adopted lied form the Code of Justinian Te isa well known fact that Roman tau regarded the rite of the inva Roman world, This met the require: ments of Mohammedan life, where. no Therefore, during all the centuries of Mohainmedn hislory, women have legally controled. thelr_owa property They have been free to. buy, sel oF Felative. “This has given. them inde: pendence of thought and an influence in Bislness affairs that seems wholly incon Sintent with thir life of comparative pore er harem and there you see a Circassian beauty, who has been newty acquired bythe tall, handsome pasha Who has jast passed ‘you in the street ‘The air is heavy with the odor of East crn perfumes, andthe black eunuch Stands by the door tov watch all who ome ani go. The ‘beauty herself is thickly powdered, with an elaborate coi Jewels half cover ‘her arms, and. wears. beautifully embroidered. neg- Tigee. There is languorous expressign inher blak eyes a she sits ily song a cigarete and sipping. Tarksh coffee Would you ‘thing to Took at hes, that MOHAMMEDAN WOMEN 43 when she draws her money from the tank that she must sign her own check? ‘These two sides of life have been wolly st variance with each ether By au years fave gone by, the ought fui side has pre- dominated among the more intellectual are ready (o enter ito. the alfair of today with an understanding and. vigor Which the world has never accredited to them Te" has been on the social side_that Mohammedan’ women have suifered most under the oppression of the last thinty “years, eapectally from. the. fre {quency of divorce. A man could legally divorce his wife t any minate, the nly condition ‘being the. payment of the dowry ‘which was settled upon her by the hstand atthe ine of her marriage Tn the fst attempt to keep the sex the rte assigned to them by the life of the harem, very strict laws have been sede to" prevent all posible progress among tem, Laws ‘nave been "pro- Claimed over and over again forbidding fehools. In this emergency they el governesses.. Most of these gov. Were inefcent, and bad moral guides to ts large a portion of the population be- sinning to thine and question, The gov trness system obtained so. much ilu nce after a short tie that laws were esses. Yet they struggled on in an ef fort for mental illumination, reading, writing, talking things over among themselves, and sometimes getting. help from their husbands and brothers, They hhave accomplished much, with so heavy 1 handicap, in literature, science, com- meree, and polities, WOMEN WHO ARE WRITERS ‘The extreme censorship of the press thas kept the best efforts of the Moham- medan women from the knowledge of the public. ‘They have studied lan- guages, written for the papers, and pub- Tished books. It is not an tneommon thing to meet a veiled Mohammedan4 ‘THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE woman on one of the steamers that ply along. the ‘Bosphorus, and to find on speaking to her that she is familiar with English, French, and German, and per- haps Ltalian, Mohammedan women have a rich in- heritance in the realm of letters. Since the days of Mohammed the Conqueror, woman have from time to time belonged to the literary circles of Mohammedan society. Moliammedans have their own Sappho, a poetess who lived in the ff teenth century, and who says “Since they say that woman lacketh wit alway, feds must they ekerve whitever word she Rerter far one woman if she worthy be ‘Than'a thousand mien fall unworthy tes: Her name was Miri, and she was the author of a volume of poetry which com: pares well with the work af her contem= poraries, During the last twenty-five years there have beon many women writers in Con- stantinople. Niguar Hanum has pro: duced several volumes of poetry which have contributed greatly to the develop ment of Turkish. lyric poetry. —Alieh Hanum has written on _phitasophy, ethics, and the Mohammedan religion, Many’ other women have written along different Tines—essays, romances, and newspaper articles The literature of the Turkish nation is concealed from the rest of the world ‘by the difficulties of the Turkish Tan- geage. The language in itself would not ‘be difficult, but it is unfortunately written in the Arabie characters. Arabic possesses no vowel system, and books and papers published in the characters are fully as difficult as the English lan guage would be published in shorthand, In fact, in reading Arabic a person must have a’ fair idea of what it is about be- fore he can make anything out of it, Ti, among the present ‘reforms introduced into Turkey by the Society of Union and Progress, the Latin alphabet could be substituted for the Arabic, Turkish lan- ‘guage and literature would become more accessible to the rest of the world, ‘TURKISH MIDWIVES ‘The strict laws regarding harem life have obliged Mohammedan women to learn something of medicine. Not long ago a European doctor was passing a house with latticed windows, when he heard violent, heart-rending screams from within. ‘He stopped, spoke to the porter, and asked him what the trouble was. “The porter replied, “My mistress is very ill.” "Go and tell your master,” said the doctor, “that I am a physician and T will come in immediately to help her.” ‘The porter disappeared, but soon re. turned, saying, “My master says he would rather the mistress would die than see a man doctor.” "This is an extreme case, as men doc- tors have been admitted for several years into many ‘Turkish houses. Yet there are thousands of homes in the Moham- medan world where a man doctor would not be allowed to enter under any con= sideration, Asa result, there has developed a more or less medieval system of mid- wifery. ‘The midwife is called a half doctor. Fifty years ago this class was tnade up of igorant women who. prace ticed charms, dealt in strange drugs and Turkey, however, has made progress in the science of medicine, and in this prog fess women have shared. The so-called Trlf-doctor has become somewhat better edicated from year to yenr, until place of the new Moharwmedan Medieal Col lege erected at Tiaidar Pasha, in. Con stantinopte. ‘The catalogue of this Stitition! annoubees weekly lectures for lave finshed the course of study assist in the demonstrations at these. lectures, Laws have been made requiring all who practice as halfedoctors to have regular constituted a regular profession, whose from one to two thowsand dollars. OnTo MOSQUE THE DAY APrER THE occasion when the girls in a certain Stamboul were tobe vacel- nated a hali-doctor was called in. The Torkish government has ntl the pre ent time refused the full doctor's diploma to foreign women who have desired to ractice in the empire, the only exec} tion being an American physician, Dr ary Faldy, who is practicing in. Syria, ‘The’ medical profession will be one of the first for ‘Turkish women to enter tmder the new regime From time immemorial the complex assembly of women in the palace of the Sultan have had their finances controtled who keeps tinder her a Dumber of secretaries or scribes, as they are ealled, who are also women,” In the beginning’ this office was held by” the Validé Sultana, or mother of the Sultan who always holds a high position in the palace. At the present time the woman in control is called the Treasurer of the Harem, The harem of the Sultan of ‘Turkey by a woman, has usually contained several hundred women, who are privileged to drive about under careful espionage, t0 visit the leading’ shops of the city, and to in est freely in silks, laces, and jewels, ‘The control of the finances of so large a umber of women, who are allowed to spend stich large ‘sims of money, has never been a small matter and shows the ability of Mohammedan women along comiercial Kes, Women of the lower. classes, old enough to travel somewhat freely within the limits of the Turkish Empire, have organized simple systems of buying and selling, somewhat more complicated than of a peddler, and have traveled back and forth between Egypt, Smyrna, and Constantinople, plying’ their teade’ with ‘The most familiar example to the ine habitants of Constantinople of what woman may be privileged to do in come mon commercial life ‘maybe seen at Beshiktash, a village on the Bosphorus,THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINETHE EMANCIPATION OF MOHAMMEDAN WOMEN 47cE, SAZIN RAPHIC MAC GI 3 NAL 61 THE NATIO! 48ealasta st aiyuss am 1nOXOD HHL GAMRVHON ka W en am AZINE IC MAG HI EOGRAP. a ‘THE NATIONALTHE EMANCIPATION OF MOHAMMEDAN WBA ‘THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE‘Paste from "Contant" Wy Bala A. Greener, Abert Cog36 ‘THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE, IN THE TURKISH QUARTER OF CONSTAN’ AND LATTICE my58 ‘DHE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE80 SovIva AHL St KOoN-HAVE TWIH‘THE EMANCIPATION OF MOHAMMEDAN WOM ‘The ferry-boats touch at this landing every few minutes, where a gaunt figure in woman's draperies marches up and down the landing, earrying a lub as the sign of her office. Her duty is to mar- shal the women in and out from the women's waiting-room to the cabins of the steamer, for which office she is paid about $20 a month, Mohammedan women have also made some progress in legal lines. The courts of Constantinople have always been closed to women as visitors. I know of one foreign woman who tried to visi them, and who was put out gently bat firmly from one after another yet veiled Mohammedan women were always seen congregating about the courts, and the question naturally arose, “What were they doing there?” ' Investigation showed that a Mohammedan woman could enter any court, even the criminal, in three different capacities—as a_ pris: ner, as a witness, or even to plead her own 'cause. Tt has not been an unustat thing for clever Mohammedan women, when obliged to go to law over property matters, to carefully study up their own cases. “They would consult attorneys beforehand and find out all the legal in- tricacies which might influence their par- ticnlar case, and afterwards appear in court and plead it with great eloquence There is another profession which Mohammedan women have entered with Success, Viz., the profession of teaching. Schools for girls have been very cle mentary and badly organized in the past, yet two grades have existed. almost vverywhere in the Turkish Empire, with the ‘exception of Hejaz and. Yemen, ‘There is one normal school in Constanti- nople, called the “Home of the Lady “Teachers,” which has sent out anneal class of from sixty to one hundred graduates. The law has for some years required that every teacher should pos: sess a diploma from this normal school ‘Their salaries have ranged from ten to twenty-five dollars a month, according to the grade of the school, It is interesting to note that in en- gaging teachers, or even in accepting 61 udents for the normal school, no atten- tion is paid to the fact as to. whether they are married or not, Marriage does not disqualify’ a ‘Turkish woman from pursuing any’ profession; and there has been one instance at least, and probably many others, where a Turkish woman has taught school and supported her hus- Dand ‘Their past experience has been slowly preparing the Turkish women for the larger opportunities that the constitution gives them, On the morning of the agth of July ali classes of the Turkish Em- pire entered into anew life, but the greatest change of all took place in the farems. “Women everywhere threw off their veils. A prominent woman in Sa- lonica openly assisted her husband in the political eelebrati One woman went so far as to have her picture published in a Paris paper. At this the members of the Reactionary Party rose up in common protest and said, “If this is to be the result of free- dom, that our women display their faces to the public with such brazen immod- esty, we do not wish a constitution,” The Turkish women are true patriots, and when they saw that the question of freedom for ‘women appeared to have such deep significance to the nation, not only from a political and social, but also from a moral point of view, they said with one accord, “Of what consequence is so small a matter as a veil! We will continue to wear our veils, and will seek the larger opportunities ‘that the new constitution gives us.” ‘Turkish women everywhere have accordingly resumed their veils; but it is a very different thing to wear a veil voluntarily than icing obliged to do so, and eventually they will probably appear in the streets without them, ‘The moral’ freedam that the revolu- tion has brought to Tarkish women is, showing itself’ in many different lines, ‘The freedom of the press has been of fered to women. They are writing for the papers openly and without fear of62 ‘THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE censorship, and their voices are being heard in fegard to the affairs of the nae tion. There are’ three new. reviews already published in Constantinople for women, and in other parts of the Turk. ish Empire papers for women alone are being published A” graduate of the Anierican College for Girls ving in Sas loc i sent to Boston for copy of a well-known American woman's mage ine as an aid in publishing one of these papers, “Women's. clubs” have been formed in Constantinople and in other cities, and the one thing that women all over Turkey are asking for is. education. ‘The schools for girls was one of the frst subjects to be presented to the Departs ment of Publie. Instruction under” the new regime, in the many new journals ‘which the freedom of the press has called Toth ‘There, is a picturesque woman's co! lege in Turkey which has been quietly working for the last thirty years to pave the way for the present strong move: ment among the women of the East fa behalf of higher education. ‘This is the American College for Girls at Constant nople, an institution whieh is gradhally taking rank among the leading women’s colleges in the world. "As result of the greater freedom of the new regime, the college has sectired a large and valuable Site on the European shore of the Hos. phorus, an old manor park which was laid out during the luxurious days of the past and has now changed hands for the first time in a century. The college is now in Seutari on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphoras, but it will be removed to the new site as soon as the buildings can be erected. ‘The fist of stunts Kes al. ways contained some Mohammedan names, althongh the parents may" have sacrificed greatly in order. to” dely. the laws and send their daughters fo 2 fore eign college the college has furnished one grade uate who isa leader in Constantisople at this critical time. Halideh Salih has heen called once, and again the: feet woman in poplarity and fafltence inthe Turkish Empire. "Her father was Secs retary in the Department of the Treasury in the palace of the Sultan, and no small sacrifice was required to enable his daughter to obtain the degree of Bach- elor of Arts in a foreign college. She is the only Mohammedan woman in the ‘Turkish Empire who holds this degree. The freedom of the new constitution has brought with it a wide recognition of her ability. She is writing for all the papers in Constantinople with much sucess and vigor; she is president of one of the new women's clubs and a member of all; she is a member of two men's clubs, a league for public safety, and a press elu, and she has been asked by the Department of Public Instruction to outline the course of study necessary for the reorganization of schools for girls throughout the em- pire. Articles on this. subject have al- ready been published by her in the Turk- ish press. She fas also prepared. a translation of Julius Cesar, a play that the censorship’excluded in the past, but which has been spoken of as ‘the first play shich will probably be given in the new Turkish theater soon to be opened in Constantinople. She is also writing for foreign papers, and the first money she earned in this way was ased toward founding a scholarship for Turkish gitls in her alma mater. ‘Thus the preparation which Turkish women have had in secret for public life will enable them to take advantage of the new opportunities with great celer- ity; of this there are already numerous wstrations. letter recently appeared in the Echo, the unofficial organ of the Committee of Union and Progress, beg. ging for medical training for women, i Fesponse to which the leading Turkish surgeon in Constantinople has agreed to fake women into his hospital for train. ing, ‘The Imperial Museum of Turkey, wnder Hamdi Bey, the celebrated Turk ish archeologist. has made great prog- ress during the iast quarter of a centurs. and an art school af comparative excel. Fence has been open to men for some time in Constantinople. ‘The women have now asked for a Similar school, andTHE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE,f EMANCIPATION OF MOHAMMEDAN WOM:68 ‘THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Hamdi Bey has agreed to open an art school for women some day in the meas future, In fact, there is no subject that is being discussed with greater inter and vigor in the Turkish press. today than that of the education of women, Now is the opportunity for foreign edu- cation in Turkey, when not only. the SUNSHINE Greeks, Armenians, and Bulgarians de- sire American education, but the Tarles themselves look to America for help. ‘They are crowding into our schools, and there is not room to. receive them, American education in Turkey is a pow= erful ally to the Committee of Union and Progress. IN TURKEY* By Howarp §. Buiss Parsipent SyRIAx Prorestant Coumucr at Be HOSE of you who have had the good fortine to visit Constant Nople know that the gloom of a rainy day’ in that city is exceedingly floomy, and you also Know, if your s0- ici somewhat prolonged, that of a sunshiny day in Consianti- nope ia exceedingly glorious, Sich day was yesterday™a day that stands out and to all appearances ill stand at In thet othe Osoman Eines ne T venture to sa), as well as In behalf of our fellow-ctizens throughout the cot try, we may well thank ‘our representa tives 'n Congress for sending across the Water to the people of Markey. good Chrrences of yesterday. ‘As you read the papers last evening and this moming, yor followed in image tation that crowd. a8 it surged ‘down fom Galata over the bridge and up the Slopes to the Mosse of Sophia. You fav the Sultan start from his palace and take that route which js a new one for His Majesty. Everywhere the appeat- ance of the streets indicated that it was a festival day. "The splendid. Turkish toldiers, than whom sou can find no finer sof ten i a te won the Toke ish flags, the uzzas of the people, the crowds of women-=now a new factor in the gllerings in Turkey; not only the houses, but even the mosques, erowded With spectators looking down upon this new, strange seene—you could see ie all Tooke the pains today 10 look up the recor of the meeting of the frst Pali ment, in 2877, and there appeared in the london Ties a Tong leter irom a Con- siantinople correspondent describing the pening of that first Pariament. Appar- ently all the details were given, bathe sccount Incked those ‘characteristics of Popular enthusiasm which fil the ace Counts, that appear in today”. papers? find this enthestasm of the people i full Ot happy augury forthe future ‘The seene in that Parliament chamber yesterday, where the Siltan, after his Speech had been read before’ the repre” sentatives, j ined in the prayer of the jullge-the’ priestjudge who. asked God's blessing upon that gathering, was a tec of great lenny, flowed by a See of great enthusiasm, partiipated in by hondreds of thousands of ‘men, women, and children, “The contemplation of all this takes us back five months, to those other scenes that accompanied the strange events in Jily.""None of us had the remotes idea ital the revolution was coming so soon Although Twas not present, 1 know Something about the effect that was pro- diced in Beirut, Syria, when it was an- noted hat th sonton bad been granted. “Beirut is the largest. seaport town of Syria. Te is'a city of one hune An address to The National Geographic Society, December 18, 108.