The Future of Forsyth:
One of Salem's leading female voices talks freedom, business, and economics since the War
Mrs. Carrie Fries Shaffner, a native of Salem, holds a special place in our town’s history. She was close to the battlefield before she returned to the home front. Her family is well known in the community. She is a woman of many talents, but she is also a woman of strength, of dignity and of resilience. For all of these reasons, we asked her to sit with Eliza Kremer and discuss a range of topics that center around the future of Salem.
Eliza Kremer: Very Early in the war, many of us went to a hospital in Virginia to care for the soldiers. I decided to go because I wanted to help them in any way I could. What were your motivations?
Carrie Fries Shaffner: I think for some that went with us did so because of their vows to their husbands. Others maybe because of their vows to the Confederacy. I went because of a civic duty. I wasn’t allowed to pick up a gun and fight with them, even though I supported the war effort. If I could heal them, they could continue to fight for us. In that same act, I was able to “prove” my strength when the men were away. It was like taking my own steps to gather the reins to the freedom we deserve.
Eliza Kremer: Freedom is a difficult subject in the South. How would you define freedom for the people in Salem?
Carrie: Freedom isn’t something that is concrete; it’s not something that’s the same for everyone. For some in Salem, freedom is something they have known their entire lives, while others are just experiencing it for the first time. For some very little has changed except the mindset. Our women can attend a school with a challenging curriculum, but they may not have the same chances as men would to accomplish their goals. The black community is finding their freedom in the communities they have constructed for themselves. “Freedom” is as unique to each person in Salem as Salem is to the South.
Eliza: You are a professor at Salem College, which stayed open through the entire war. How does this represent Salem’s ability to withstand turmoil?
Carrie: Salem College equated to safety. Much of our enrollment was made of women from all over the South, mainly from areas that were very war torn and they were seeking refuge. Their education kept them away from major battles and acted as something familiar amidst turmoil, but it didn’t come without its challenges.
Eliza: What are those challenges?
The campus is struggling because of its age. It took a lot of money to keep the school open during the war, and its money the town doesn’t have right now. The girls need more classrooms and to feel like they are at home. We need more textbooks and more teachers. The major problem is keeping the girls comfortable. The buildings are still using steam power where the other buildings in the city are moving to electricity. I fear their campus experience will outdate their education before they have the opportunity to use it, but renovations are very low on the list of concerns for the town.
Eliza: You mentioned the economy. Even before the war, Salem was changing how it made money and kept the economy booming. You have relatives that have shaped Salem’s economic future. Can you speculate on where Salem’s business is headed?
Carrie: [With a laugh] No, because I know about as much of business now as I did about medicine at the hospital. I think people looking in on the community will see an opportunity for prosperity because of the success of the businesses that started here, which will hopefully gain even more success for the town. I imagine that the space Salem and Winston have to offer will make for great business.
Eliza: Your family has a fairly long lineage attached to Salem and has done wonderful things for the prosperity of the town, but it also has ties to slavery. How do you grapple with that?
Carrie: I try not to. It is a fresh wound that will take more than my lifetime to heal, if it ever does. I cannot lie and say the members of the family who owned them are ashamed or sorry, because I do not know, but that is what we fought the war over. However, the Negro men and women in Salem are a very resilient people and I believe they will make the most of the freedom they have been granted. They have as good of a chance as any to find their niche here and live in peace.
Eliza: I think we can agree Salem has been through some changes and can look forward to great success in the future. How would you describe the War’s impact on Salem?
Carrie: The impact is the legacy we have now. Negroes have their freedom and are making the most of it. Women have proven they can hold their own in times of trouble and are just as capable as men in caring for more than children. Salem is growing and is very much up with the times. I think the war only proved our capabilities to the surrounding communities and it will continue to grow even through the hardest of times.
Our women can attend a
school with a challenging
curriculum, but they may not
have the same opportunities
as men would to accomplish
their goals. The negro
community is finding their
freedom in the communities
they have constructed for
themselves. “Freedom” is as
unique to each person in
Salem, as Salem is to the South.
Eliza: You are a professor at Salem Academy, which stayed open through the entire War. How does this represent Salem’s ability to withstand turmoil?
Carrie: The Girls' School equated to safety. Much of our enrollment was made of women from all over the South, mainly from areas that were nearest to the fighting, and the girls and their families were seeking refuge. The school kept them away from the fighting and kept their lives as normal and something familiar as possibile amidst the choas of war, but it didn’t come without its challenges.
Eliza: What are those challenges?
Opposite page: Carrie Fries Shaffner and child, ca.1870; Above: One of the mills used by F&H Fries Manufacturing Company (Courtesy of Old Salem Museums and Gardens).