Saint in The Swamp: Missionary Deaconess Bedell

Welcome back to our Seminole Snapshots series! In this series, we highlight photographic collections or photographers who have captured pivotal moments in Seminole history, tourism, industry, or culture. This week we are looking at the enduring and nuanced legacy of Deaconess Harriet Bedell. As an Episcopalian missionary, Bedell dedicated decades of her life to working alongside the Seminole people. The Bedell Collection (1933–1960s) captures a period of transformative change for the Seminole community in Florida. Particularly, her influence had a marked impact on the sale of Seminole crafts and dolls in the tourism space.

As we mentioned previously in the Seminole Snapshots installment ‘Dear Friend,’ this series is intended to highlight positive, truthfully taken, and non-exploitative imagery of Seminole and Miccosukee people throughout history. But we again stress that all people carry with them inherent biases and perceptions that are derived from their role and perspective. Bedell was no different. In particular, the discussions surrounding missionary work in Indigenous communities is one that comes with a lot of varied emotions and feelings. Bedell was an Episcopalian missionary and deaconess, which also comes with it its own biases. But, she also dedicated her life to helping and supporting the communities she found herself in, making friends and relationships that can still be felt today.

In our featured image, you can see another shot of Bedell in her study at the Glades Cross Mission in Everglades City. An inscription is taped to the back, reading “85 dimes on Money Tree Presented by Bragwood Lodge, Everglades For my 85th Birthday – March 1960” and below that, in pen, “Deaconess Bedell” (2024.6.20, ATTK Museum).

 

Deaconess Harriet Bedell

Born to a prominent family in Buffalo, New York in 1875, Harriet Bedell spent her early education training as a schoolteacher, graduating from the State Normal School in Buffalo in 1894. She then attended the New York Training School for Deaconesses (previously the St. Faith’s Training School for Deaconesses) beginning in 1906. She soon began her missionary work in December of 1907 within the Cheyenne at Whirlwind Mission in Oklahoma. She would stay here for almost a decade, before being transferred to the Indian School in Nenana, Alaska in 1916. Quickly moving to Tanana, Alaska, she would continue her work there until 1931. Her next, and final, move would bring her to Florida.

Deaconess Bedell moved to Florida in the early 1930s, where she “created a ministry of economic empowerment, education, and health care for Indians of the Everglades.” She revived the old Episcopal Glade Cross Mission, originally erected in 1898 near Immokalee, in Everglades City. Although a missionary, Bedell’s work “emphasized health and education rather than religious conversion in her work with the Seminoles; their spiritual and physical comfort was more important to her than religious conversion, and her work and friendship with the Seminoles of Florida reflected those values.”

For almost thirty years, Bedell lived and worked among the community. She drove her Model T solo all throughout the Everglades, visiting, checking on, and gathering with countless Seminole families. Spunky and fearless, she is fondly remembered by many for her dedication, compassion, and empathy.

Hurricane Donna destroyed the Glades Cross Mission, and Bedell’s home, in 1960. Although she would officially retire from church work in 1943, Bedell continued to live and serve in the community until her death in the 1960s. She was sainted by the Episcopal Church in 2009, with her feast day being held annually on January 8^th.

Remaking an Industry

Throughout her many years of ministry, Bedell was probably best known for her impact on the Seminole and Miccosukee craft economy. When arriving in Florida, Bedell was shunned while visiting a Miami attraction. She “assumed that their attitude was caused by their ‘demeaning’ dependence on the tourist economy. She vowed to wean them away from the atmosphere of commercialism by establishing a crafts cooperative.” (West 122) Her opposition to these tourist attractions was primarily rooted in what she felt was the exploitation of those involved, “feeling that the attractions were a barricade” to better economic opportunities. (West 206). Famously, she is quoted as saying “Exhibit arts and crafts, but not people!” (West 194)

She established the cooperative at the Glades Cross Mission in Everglades City, with the program benefitting the Big Cypress and Trail communities. Bedell travelled throughout the state garnering interest in the crafts. She even visited department stores outside of Florida to sell the crafts, with the profits going directly back to Seminoles.

As the crafts cooperative gained steam, Bedell began to suggest certain items and styles be made. Some caught on, showing up in the Miami tourist attractions. These included “waste, work, market, and picnic baskets made out of traditional palmetto stem splints; grass pin cushions; patchwork and basket purses; patchwork pillow covers and lounge covers; and wooden plaques, bookends, buttons, plates, and bowls” (West 122). Bedell was also a fierce opponent to counterfeit native goods, even travelling to Washington D.C. to voice her opposition.

Contemporary Critiques

Although Bedell’s crafts cooperative became a large economic force for many Seminole and Miccosukee of the time, there are valid critiques to her hardline and often paternalistic approach. Bedell was well known for her opinions on what was “‘good’ and ‘real’ Seminole patchwork.” She “eventually singled out these designs as the only ones she would accept at the mission, creating an anomalous style within the mainstream development of patchwork art” (West 123). She even went so far as to “name” these acceptable designs herself.

Bedell also discouraged the introduction of elements from other Indigenous communities, which became popular among those frequented by the Miami tourist attractions. She noted that she “encouraged Seminoles to ‘develop an art of their own, not copying that of western Indians’” (West 123). These strong views, which she believed to protect the purity of Seminole and Miccosukee art, can also be interpreted as stifling creative expression and the natural evolution of art.

Below, you can see a female Seminole pin doll. Deaconess Bedell gifted it to a donor’s wife in 1952. Ironically, the doll includes three rows of ric-rac on the cape and skirt. Bedell vehemently opposed the use of this craft trait, citing it as not “authentic.” But, today ric-rac is an often-used and well represented craft-trait in Seminole patchwork and has been for decades.

Snapshots from the Bedell Collection

Most of the images contained in the Bedell Collection show Bedell herself visiting different Seminole and Miccosukee families, or at various Missions or religious services. This in itself is an incredibly interesting aspect of the collection. Bedell spent three decades building relationships among the Seminole and Miccosukee communities. This is clear in many of the photos, which show her smiling, holding children, and among entire extended families.

The photographs below can be found in the Florida Memory Project and through the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum. In addition to those sources, Bedell herself sent a number of prints to the Museum of the American Indian, via William Stiles, to be made into prints from 1940-1942. We encourage you to explore these sources to peruse the full breadth of her collection and work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interested in more of our Seminole Snapshots series? Previously, we have looked at the works of Julian Dimock, Irvin M. Peithmann, William Boehmer, John Kunkel Small, JJ Steinmetz, W. Stanley Hanson Sr., and Ethel Cutler Freeman.

 

Additional Sources

West, Patsy. The Enduring Seminoles: From Alligator Wresting to Casino Gaming, Revised and Expanded Edition. 2008. University Press of Florida. Digital.

 

Author Bio

Originally from Washington state, Deanna Butler received her BA in Archaeological Sciences from the University of Washington in 2014. Deanna moved to Florida in 2016. Soon, she began working for the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Deanna was the THPO’s Archaeological Collections Assistant from 2017-2021. While at the THPO, Deanna worked to preserve, support, and process the Tribe’s archaeological collection. She often wrote the popular Artifact of the Month series and worked on many community and educational outreach programs. She lives in Lakeland, FL with her husband, two sons, and dog.