1854-1857
The Parlor Visitor was a Baptist women’s periodical “devoted mainly to the varied educational and moral interests of the Females of the South West” published in Nashville, Tennessee, from January, 1854 to July, 1857. W. P. Jones (a physician and Baptist deacon) and W. H. Bayliss (pastor of First Baptist Church, Nashville) served as editors. While not officially sponsored by a Baptist church organization, the General Association of Baptists of Tennessee and North Alabama endorsed the magazine. Issues of the Parlor Visitor were normally 32-48 pages in length and included articles and submissions on a wide variety of topics including family and home life, childrearing, Christian living, female education, benevolent enterprises, mission work, and social concerns such as slavery, Freemasonry, temperance, dancing, science and Scripture, and political corruption. The magazine also featured poetry and occasional sermons and biographical sketches of prominent Baptist leaders and other individuals. Articles were submitted by both male and female authors.
