Women's History Commons^™

“What The Women Of Maine Have Done”: Women’S Wartime Work And Postwar Activism, 1860-1875, Lisa Marie Rude

Maine History

Maine women had been active in reform movements during the antebellum era. They joined mother’s associations, temperance groups, abolitionist societies, and woman suffrage organizations. Although the Civil War did not create activists, it did strengthen them, while opening the door for other women to become activists. The war provided an unprecedented opportunity for the women of Maine to be actors in the public sphere. Postwar women’s movements in Maine were therefore fueled by their agency on the home front during the war. The author is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maine, working under the supervision of Dr. …