“The Fruit of My Own Pen”: Rhetorical Agency and the Enduring Legacy of College Temple

Rhetorical feminist studies have evolved from a focus on recovery—retrieving lost voices—to an act of reclamation, reinserting women into historical narratives and contextualizing their rhetorical contributions. This dissertation complicates reclamation by examining marginalized rhetorical agents who exercised agency in contrasting ways—both expanding opportunities for others and reinforcing exclusionary systems. Recognizing that agency is neither inherently progressive nor universally empowering, this study explores how rhetorical action can serve both liberatory and restrictive ends. College Temple, an all-women’s college in Newnan, Georgia, during the late nineteenth century, serves as a case study of these complexities. This research moves beyond the institution’s broader history to explore the rhetorical agency of its founder, Moses Payson Kellogg, as well as several graduates, including Mary E. Bryan, Darthula Brewster Woodroof, Isora Burch Hardaway, Henrie C. L. Gorman, and Emily Jones Stacy. Using a feminist rhetorical lens and archival methodology, this dissertation reconstructs their rhetorical acts, showing how a shared education shaped—but did not determine—their agency. By analyzing their public writing, professional work, and engagement with power, this study reveals the tensions in rhetorical agency—how it can challenge or reinforce societal hierarchies. Ultimately, this study contributes to feminist rhetorical scholarship by offering a more nuanced understanding of reclamation, one that acknowledges the complexities of agency and the ethical implications of reintegrating historical narratives while advancing broader conversations about the intersections of gender, rhetoric, and power.