A Woman Of Texas Summary

In Rebecca Richmond 's A Woman of Texas: Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker, she discussed the life of Anna Hardwick and her contribution to the progression of teaching in Texas and the progression of women 's rights worldwide.She addressed Anna 's hunger for education for herself and others, and how this hunger made her a better teacher and the persuasion she had when it came to teaching. Numerous times throughout the book, Rebecca mentioned how Anna was able to engage all of her students on a level that got them interested about school, and whatever subject she take they believed it was the most important subject in the world. She also mentions Anna 's contribution to Texas in the form of her history book about Texas history, that was used in the …show more content…
I believe the majority of her sources were secondary, but there is a possibility that Rebecca knew Mrs. Pennybacker or someone who was close to her given 3 years after Anna death the book was published. There were two major topics Rebecca focused on which were Anna as an educator and the advocate, and then Anna as the new modern woman. By having these two themes as the main focus of her book, Rebecca allowed the readers the chance of "getting to know Anna" on a more personal level. An example how she represented Anna as an educator and her contribution to the reshaping of the education system and her students mind is seen in her personal journal excerpt about how she conducted her classroom. She states that at the beginning of class she encouraged her students to think about and analyze what they read and to give their opinion on the subject.1 Rebecca showed her readers that Anna 's encouraged her students to find their voice and build their own opinion from their readings (especially historical readings). Rebecca allowed her readers an understanding that Anna helped shape the way we study history in schools today. This is also impressive for a woman during her time period due to the fact that some of the men overlooked her teaching abilities since she was a woman, this is why she did not recieve the teaching job at the college or was simply a teacher instead of the superintendent in Bryan, Texas (even though she graduated second in her class). Another example is seen is Mr. Percy Pennybacker 's statement that " if Anna was called upon to teach only a class in spelling she would soon convince every pupil spelling was the cause one must live and die for." This shows her passion for education and expanding the minds of those around her. Rebecca wrote that Anna was a great educator because she was