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HATTIE A. WASHINGTON


Mrs. Hattie Alexander Washington of Hill Top, W. Va., has been a pioneer in women's work in the State, and for the past thirteen years has been President of the Federation of Women's Clubs of West Virginia.

Mrs. Washington is a native of the State, having been born at the old town of Point Pleasant on the Ohio River. Her maiden name was Alexander, and her father was Joseph Alexander, a farmer. The maiden name of her mother was Julia Smith.

Our subject was married on November 20, 1901, to Dr. S. A. Washington, a sketch of whose life appears herewith. Since the death of her husband she continues to reside at Hill Top, where she has an elegant home.

As a girl she laid the foundation of her education in the Point Pleasant public schools from which she passed to what is now the West Virginia Collegiate Institute and was the first student to enter that school from her town.

She made her plans to teach in the fall and then continue her studies at the Institute from the first of each year till she had completed her course. She was the oldest of a family of eight children, and she and her brother planned together to buy a home. At the successful completion of her first session this brother sickened and died, so the burden of home fell on her. In addition, the younger children needed help in school, so she found herself under the necessity of continuing her teaching. In this way her plans for a complete college education were frustrated. Most of her teaching was in Fayette County. After her marriage in 1901, Mrs. Washington took up club work, and began organizing a club in her home town. Her intelligence and her executive ability soon brought her to a place of leadership among the women of the State. She was converted and joined the M. E. Church at the age of twelve and all her life has been active in the work of the church and the Sunday School. She is now a member of A. M. of the Sunday School and President of the Missionary Society, E. Church and General Secretary of her church, Superintendent and has raised hundreds of dollars for its support. Among the benevolent orders she is identified with the Daughters of Rebecca and the St. Lukes. She seeks to lead her people along the lines of right thinking and right living and is a striking example of what an ambitious girl may accomplish in the face of difficulties.

Mrs. Washington is well known over the State and her voice is frequently heard in public gatherings, but the example of her own success is perhaps the most effective lesson she teaches.


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