Delphine Feminear Thomas

Delphine Feminear was born in Bay Minette, Alabama, the daughter of Joseph Feminear and Delphine Byrne Feminear. She graduated from Troy State Normal School in 1910.{{Cite book|last=Troy University|url=http://archive.org/details/palladium19troy|title=The Palladium 1919|date=1919|others=Troy University Archives|pages=101|publisher=Troy University|via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite news|date=1940-06-02|title=State Normal Class of 1910 Holds Reunion|pages=26|work=The Montgomery Advertiser|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63453554/state-normal-class-of-1910-holds-reunion/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}} She attended a summer program for teachers at the University of Alabama in 1914.{{Cite book|last=Alabama|first=University of|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hyZFAQAAMAAJ&q=Delphine+Feminear&pg=RA1-PA179|title=Catalogue|date=1914|publisher=University of Alabama|pages=183|language=en}}

Feminear was a high school teacher in rural Pike County, Alabama as a young woman.{{Cite journal|last=Duncan|first=L. N.|date=1911|title=What Constitutes Successful Work in Agriculture in the High School|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_aU6AQAAMAAJ&q=Delphine+Feminear&pg=PA535|journal=Journal of Proceedings and Addresses of the 1st-25th Annual Meeting of the Southern Educational Association|pages=535–536}}{{Cite book|last=Ziegler|first=Edith|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scFLQovQKvcC&q=Delphine+Feminear&pg=PA47|title=Schools in the Landscape: Localism, Cultural Tradition, and the Development of Alabama's Public Education System, 1865-1915|date=2010-10-06|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-1709-6|pages=47|language=en}} In 1913 she became principal of a school in Edgewater, a mining community near Birmingham.{{Cite news|date=1913-10-23|title=Notes and Personal|pages=5|work=The Baldwin Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63454368/notes-and-personal/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1915 she presented a paper on "Homes for Rural Teachers", and was elected vice president of the Alabama Educational Association, and the association's meeting in Montgomery.{{Cite journal|date=December 1915|title=Publications of Associations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d2QEQwL2JqgC&q=Delphine+Feminear&pg=RA7-PA3|journal=Bulletin, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education|volume=49|pages=3}} From 1919 Thomas was an assistant in the English department at Auburn University.{{Cite book|last=Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=se5EAQAAMAAJ&q=Delphine+Feminear+Thomas&pg=RA3-PA8|title=Catalogue of the State Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama|date=1916|publisher=The College|pages=8|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=List of Faculty Members|url=https://www.lib.auburn.edu/archive/find-aid/466/faculty_list.html|access-date=2020-11-17|website=Auburn University, 1856-1956}} While at Auburn, she volunteered as a nurse during the 1918 flu pandemic.{{Cite news|date=1918-11-04|title=Letter of Appreciation|pages=3|work=The Selma Times-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63477864/letter-of-appreciation/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}} She taught junior high school at the Marietta Johnson School of Organic Education in Fairhope in 1930.{{Cite news|date=1930-05-15|title=Organic School Notes|pages=5|work=Fairhope Courier|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63452834/organic-school-notes/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}}

Thomas organized Auburn's first Girl Scout troop and the first girls' 4-H Club programs,{{Cite news|date=1949-08-25|title=4-H Club Work Leads the Way in Alabama|pages=4|work=Greene County Democrat|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63453406/4-h-club-work-leads-the-way-in-alabama/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}} and was active in politics,{{Cite news|date=1937-12-16|title=Women Voters for Hill in the Senate Race|pages=1|work=The Baldwin Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63476947/women-voters-for-hill-in-the-senate-race/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}} the Alabama Congress of Parents and Teachers,{{Cite news|date=1938-11-24|title=The Women Tell Us|pages=4|work=The Cullman Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63477687/the-women-tell-us/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}} Auburn Methodist Church, and American Red Cross work.{{Cite news|date=1960-06-10|title=Red Cross Holds Annual Meeting Here and Elects New Officers|pages=1|work=Opelika Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63479198/red-cross-holds-annual-meeting-here-and/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1977-03-27|title=Hall of Fame Women Nominated|pages=32|work=The Selma Times-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63453232/hall-of-fame-women-nominated/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}} Her 1938 essay, "Some Facts About the Alabama Poll Tax Laws", was printed in newspapers statewide.{{Cite news|last=Thomas|first=Delphine F.|date=1938-11-24|title=Some Facts About the Alabama Poll Tax Laws|pages=7|work=The Union-Banner|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63478049/some-facts-about-the-alabama-poll-tax/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|last=Thomas|first=Delphine F.|date=1938-12-01|title=Some Facts about Alabama's Poll Tax Laws|pages=5|work=The Ashland Progress|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63478954/some-facts-about-alabamas-poll-tax/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}} She served on the Alabama State Personnel Board from 1941 to 1953.{{Cite news|date=1941-02-12|title=Named by Dixon|pages=1|work=The Cherokee County Herald|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63479089/named-by-dixon/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1963-07-24|title=Mrs. Thomas Rites Today|pages=2|work=The Montgomery Advertiser|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63454563/mrs-thomas-rites-today/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1941-01-16|title=Woman Will Succeed Hall|pages=2|work=The Decatur Daily|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63454733/woman-will-succeed-hall/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}} "She has made herself a place in the grateful affections of thousands who live in the rural districts on account of her work with canning clubs and in supervising rural schools," according to a 1916 report.{{Cite news|date=1916-07-27|title=Wedding Bells|pages=2|work=The Baldwin Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63453669/wedding-bells/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}}

In 1916, Delphine Feminear married engineering professor Albert Lee Thomas (1885–1963). They had a son, Albert Lee Thomas Jr. (1923–1996), and a daughter, Delphine Thomas Cain.{{Cite news|date=1963-06-13|title=Auburn Professor Buried Last Monday|pages=1|work=The Baldwin Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35092191/the-baldwin-times/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}} She died in Auburn in 1963, a few weeks after her husband, aged 72 years.{{Cite news|date=1963-07-25|title=Mrs. A. L. Thomas Dies in Hospital|pages=8|work=The Baldwin Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63453022/mrs-a-l-thomas-dies-in-hospital/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1963-08-08|title=A Great Lady Passes|pages=2|work=The Baldwin Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63454112/a-great-lady-passes/|access-date=2020-11-17|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1977, Thomas was nominated for the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame, as a notable educator and community leader.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Delphine Feminear}}

Category:1890 births

Category:1963 deaths

Category:People from Bay Minette, Alabama

Category:People from Auburn, Alabama

Category:20th-century American women educators

Category:Troy University alumni

Category:20th-century American educators

Category:American civil rights activists

Category:Schoolteachers from Alabama

Category:Activists from Alabama

Category:American anti-poll tax activists

Category:American women civil rights activists