FLASHBACK FRIDAY: The Legacy of Nettie Depp

When it comes to influential women of Barren County, Nettie Depp is high on the list.
Depp, a pioneer in local education, was ahead of her time.

Nettie Depp was a teacher who became the first woman to hold a public office in Barren County, as superintendent, years prior to women being allowed to vote.

Running on the Democratic ticket for county school superintendent in 1913, Depp, who was a teacher of many years, became the first female to hold a public office in Barren County. She accomplished this seven years prior to women being allowed to vote.
Although her tenure was only four years long, it was an accomplished one and a fruitful period of development in Barren County education. Depp is responsible for streamlining local education, and for creating the first four-year high school in the Liberty College building Glasgow. She also dedicated herself to creating a more unified curriculum countywide, to refurbishing local one-room schools, and to constructing seven schoolhouses to serve broad geographic areas.
After serving as superintendent, she became principal at Cave City School until 1923, and she later taught school in Scottsville. She was asked to represent the Republican Party and run again for superintendent, but she made it clear that her focus was education, not political gain.
Depp died in 1932, and approximately 1500 people attended her funeral, which was moved outdoors to accommodate the many people who came to pay their respects at the Refuge Church of Christ in Eighty Eight.

–Jennifer Moonsong for GlasgowNews1 in partnership with Glasgow-Barren County Tourism.