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Full-Text Articles in Women's History

Living In A Barbie World: Barbie's Origins And Her Impact On The American Mother, 1959-1965, Colleen Caldwell May 2024

Living In A Barbie World: Barbie's Origins And Her Impact On The American Mother, 1959-1965, Colleen Caldwell

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis examines the impact of the 1959 release of Barbie on white middle class American mothers. It works to show how the doll represented an idealized image of American womanhood and beauty standards, while also showing different careers women could potentially hold. This thesis analyzes popular culture from the time such as, magazines, television commercials, and newspaper editorials along with studying the actual dolls and outfits. Through studying these sources, it becomes clear that Mattel recognized that mothers were the people buying the dolls for their daughters and the company sought ways to appeal to them as buyers. The …


Working For The Benefit And Advancement Of Women: Three Women's Organizations That Commemorated The American Civil War, 1880-1920, Annette F. Guild May 2023

Working For The Benefit And Advancement Of Women: Three Women's Organizations That Commemorated The American Civil War, 1880-1920, Annette F. Guild

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In the past forty years, scholars and members of the public alike have obsessed over the complex legacy of the American Civil War (1861-1865). As debates over Confederate monuments and the United States’ racial past have frequently emerged in politics, many Americans have disagreed as to how the Civil War should be remembered. In examining the evolution of Civil War memory in American society, numerous scholars have noted the important role that women’s organizations played in influencing the Civil War’s collective memory in the fifty years following the conflict. However, while scholars have noted the significance of these organizations for …


Ladies Of Distinction: Examining Twentieth Century African American Socialites And Civil Rights, Mackenzie Mason May 2023

Ladies Of Distinction: Examining Twentieth Century African American Socialites And Civil Rights, Mackenzie Mason

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Discontent post-war Philadelphians had a full list of problems which the city had been dealing with since the beginning of the Great Depression. Conditions in the city had deteriorated so badly that by the late 1930s, a group of young middle-to-upper-class professionals who called themselves “Young Turks” began advocating for postwar progressivism in the city. These wealthy white male lawyers, architects, and university professors frequently met and discussed their reformative ideas within intellectual associations and gentleman’s clubs. During this same time period and inside the same city, two African American women born into affluent families in Philadelphia desired to design …


Walking The Line: The Legacy Of The Lost Cause In Redefining Femininity At The Normal, 1909-1942, Jennifer D. Page May 2022

Walking The Line: The Legacy Of The Lost Cause In Redefining Femininity At The Normal, 1909-1942, Jennifer D. Page

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The students who attended the State Normal and Industrial School at Harrisonburg during the early period (1909 – 1942) used social organizations to echo, amplify, and rehearse Lost Cause hierarchies of class, gender, and race. The Lee and Lanier Literary Societies were the two elite groups on campus which provided spaces for the women to practice these societal norms. These groups created a system of gatekeeping that ensured exclusivity and elevated the social standing of those who were members. These organizations were spaces to rehearse refinement and to practice the white women’s own roles in society. Their understanding of their …


Walking The Line: The Legacy Of The Lost Cause In Redefining Femininity At The Normal, 1909-1942, Jennifer D. Page May 2022

Walking The Line: The Legacy Of The Lost Cause In Redefining Femininity At The Normal, 1909-1942, Jennifer D. Page

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The students who attended the State Normal and Industrial School at Harrisonburg during the early period (1909 – 1942) used social organizations to echo, amplify, and rehearse Lost Cause hierarchies of class, gender, and race. The Lee and Lanier Literary Societies were the two elite groups on campus which provided spaces for the women to practice these societal norms. These groups created a system of gatekeeping that ensured exclusivity and elevated the social standing of those who were members. These organizations were spaces to rehearse refinement and to practice the white women’s own roles in society. Their understanding of their …