Author highlights women in history

Local residents celebrating Independence Day this Saturday will have a unique opportunity to meet a relatively new neighbor who spends her life uncovering the hidden history of America.

USA Today bestselling author and historian Marianne Monson will host a special book signing at the Marshall County Farmers Market on Saturday, July 4, from 10 a.m. To 12 noon. The event marks a grassroots welcome for Monson, who relocated from Oregon to Holly Springs, purchasing the landmark 155-year-old Wynne House Inn on North Randolph Street.

For Monson, moving to Marshall County wasn’t just a change of address--it was a direct extension of her literary passion.

“I was writing historical fiction, and my editor said, `I think you should write a non-fiction book about pioneer women,’” Monson said in a recent interview, detailing how her deep dive into archives sparked a career focusing on overlooked women in history.

Originally planning a research trip solely to Memphis to see the Beale Street plaza dedicated to legendary civil rights journalist Ida B. Wells, Monson realized Holly Springs—Wells’ actual birthplace—was just 45 minutes away.

“I put it into the maps... and I was like, `Oh, I have to go there,’” Monson recalled. “We actually stayed at the Wynne House as guests, and then I started talking with the previous owners... and realized it was for sale.”

Monson officially took ownership of the inn on July 2, 2024. She was immediately captivated by the sheer density of women’s history in the square-mile surrounding her new home, noting the close proximity of legacies left by Wells, anti-lynching activist Sherwood Bonner, and renowned painter Kate Freeman Clark.

“It’s a really remarkable concentration of incredible women from 100 or so years ago,” Monson said.

At Saturday’s market, Monson will be featuring two of her highly acclaimed historical non-fiction books, both of which carry a poignant resonance for a July 4^th celebration.

The first, Frontier Grit: The Unlikely True Stories of Daring Pioneer Women, profiles 12 extraordinary, diverse women— including formerly enslaved women, Pacific Islanders, and Mexican-Americans—who helped shape the American West.

“I really wanted to show the inherent diversity that’s often missed with pioneer stories,” Monson explained. “Women came from so many different places and helped settle it.”

The second featured title, Women of the Blue and Gray, explores the lives of medics, spies, and an estimated 700 women who assumed male identities to fight as secret soldiers during the American Civil War.

“They fought in every major battle in the Civil War,” Monson noted. “A lot of times they weren’t discovered at all, but they often were discovered if they were injured or killed.”

Holding the event on Independence Day as the nation marks its 250th anniversary of formation offers a deliberate moment for reflection, according to the author. In a contemporary landscape strained by cultural polarization, Monson believes history holds the key to moving forward.

One story in Women of the Blue and Gray highlights the unexpected, post-war friendship that developed between Julia Dent Grant (wife of Union General Ulysses S. Grant) and Varina Howell Davis (wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis).

“It’s a remarkable story of friendship, that they were able to turn aside and figure out what they had in common,” Monson said. “I think they set a great example for us today.”

Monson hopes readers walk away inspired to look a little closer at the history in their own backyards and family trees.

“The stories that we tell about the past shape the kind of future that we can imagine,” Monson said. “As we recover those stories, our understanding of history becomes richer, more honest, and ultimately more hopeful. And I think that’s something we can all use right now.”