Women's History Commons^™

A Case Study Of Melita Maschmann: Women And The Third Reich, Lynda Maureen Willett

Graduate History Conference, UMass Boston

The case study of Melita Maschmann shows that despite the deep manipulation and gender discrimination she was subject to in her youth by National Socialism Maschmann made her own free choices as an adult and chose to zealously absorb its political ideology. The general assumption is that National Socialism, and fascism, were male dominated political ideologies in which women played a passive role, such as that professed by Gertrude Scholtz-Klink. However, many women found National Socialism appealing and became active supporters of its ideals. The purpose of this paper is to explore that appeal and analyze why certain women such …

Makers: Women Who Make America [Film Review], Judith E. Smith

American Studies Faculty Publication Series

The three-hour documentary MAKERS: WOMEN WHO MADE AMERICA, promises to tell “how women have helped shape America over the last fifty years…in pursuit of their rights to a full and fair share of political power, economic opportunity, and personal autonomy.” However, rather than provide a historical analysis of the reemergence of feminism as produced by social movements and social change, MAKERS, according to the film’s press release, focuses on “unforgettable moments in history” told through stories of “exceptional women whose pioneering contributions continue to shape the world in which we live… stories of women who led the fight, those who …

"She Of Gentle Manners": An Examination Of The Widow Pomeroy's Table And Tea Wares And The Emerging Domestic Sphere In Kinderhook, New York, Megan E. Sullivan

Graduate Masters Theses

Following the American Revolution, the new gender ideologies of Republican Motherhood and the Cult of Domesticity gained in popularity that associated men with the public sphere and relegated women to the private domestic sphere. Women were now tasked with the important job of raising the future citizens of the fledgling Republic. The quality of family and home life took on extra importance, and the elaboration of meals and the ceramics used in these rituals changed accordingly. This thesis analyzes the table and tea wares from an archaeological assemblage located in upstate New York that dates to the turn of the …

Women Under National Socialism: The Case Study Of Melita Maschmann, Lynda Maureen Willett

Graduate Masters Theses

The case study of Melita Maschmann shows that despite the deep manipulation and gender discrimination she was subject to in her youth by National Socialism Maschmann made her own free choices as an adult and chose to zealously absorb its political ideology. The general assumption is that National Socialism, and fascism, were male dominated political ideologies in which women played a passive role, such as that professed by Gertrude Scholtz-Klink. However, many women found National Socialism appealing and became active supporters of its ideals. The purpose of this paper is to explore that appeal and analyze why certain women such …

The Mass. Memories Road Show: Some Notes On Bridging And Bonding, Joanne M. Riley

Joseph P. Healey Library Publications

Four years ago, the Mass. Studies Project at UMass Boston launched a cultural heritage project that we dubbed the “Mass. Memories Road Show,” a real-world mashup of PBS’s Antiques Road Show (people bring their personal stuff to a local event for professional perusal) and the Library of Congress’ American Memory Project (digitize historic stuff and share it with the world). Our ambitious goal was – and still is! – to visit each of the 351 communities in Massachusetts, inviting residents to bring in photographs that reflect themselves and their families in that community. At the public “Road Show” events, we …

Institutionalization Of Women's Studies Programs: The Relationship Of Program Structure To Long-Term Viability, Ann Froines

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the institutional viability of three interdisciplinary women's studies programs in public universities to determine whether interdisciplinary programs are marginal or fragile. The research question has three related parts: (a) What factors influence assessments of institutional viability? (b) do assessments of institutional viability vary significantly according to differences in program structure? and (c) what strategies have emerged to maintain program viability over the next ten or 20 years?

A conceptual framework of three domains was utilized in this qualitative case study: (a) program history, (b) organizational effectiveness of program, and (c) alliances built by program leaders. Organizational effectiveness …

Rubella Vaccine And Medical Policymaking: Fetal Rights And Women's Health, Jacob Heller

New England Journal of Public Policy

U.S. vaccine policies, to all appearances, are based on assumptions about cost effectiveness, safety, and public health needs. Analysis of the peer review health professions’ discourse about rubella vaccine between 1941 and 1999 challenges this view. There were four justifications for the development of the vaccine: (1) cost-benefit projections about vaccine use versus anticipated birth defects; (2) the desire to prevent “fetal wastage” by vaccinating women; (3) a professional imperative to ensure healthy babies; and (4) a bias among vocal vaccine advocates against “unnecessary” abortion. The role of a fifth consideration, the “cultural provenance” of vaccines for American medicine, though …

"Education For Service": Gender, Class, & Professionalism At The Boston Normal School, 1870-1920, Ann Froines

Women’s and Gender Studies Faculty Publication Series

"Education for Service," and “The Truth Shall Make You Free,” are two aphorisms engraved in granite over doorways of the Boston Normal School (BNS) buildings on Huntington Avenue in Boston. One can argue that the history of women in the teaching profession, its paradoxical and conflicted reality, are reflected in the complex and contradictory meanings of these two aphorisms. Young women students at BNS were moving toward greater freedom or autonomy by taking advantage of the educational opportunity available to them in this city-supported, tuition-free teacher training institution. At the same time, they were providing a crucial social service sanctioned …

Tarquinia Molza (1542-1617): A Case Study Of Women, Music And Society In The Renaissance, Joanne M. Riley

Joanne M. Riley

Tarquinia Molza (1542-1617), an Italian musician of the late Renaissance, worked at the Este court of Ferrara in the 1580's with several other women collectively referred to at the time as the "concerto delle donne." The vocal virtuosity of this group of women supposedly inspired famous male composers to write madrigals featuring ornamented soprano parts that undermined the equal-voiced madrigal ideal, and paved the way for the concertante principle of the Baroque.

However, contradictions and questions still surround the historical contribution of the "singing Ladies of Ferrara"-- questions that can be satisfyingly answered after examining the roles of both women …

Geraldine Pindell Trotter, Julie Winch

Trotter Review

Geraldine Louise Pindell (or “Deenie” as she was known to those in her circle) was born on October 3, 1872, the daughter of lawyer Charles Edward Pindell and his wife, Mary Frances Pindell. Socially, the Pindells belonged to Boston’s black elite. Eschewing the Baptist and the AME churches, the Pindells were Episcopalians. Genteel, cultured and wealthy, the family was not without a commitment to the welfare of the larger black community. Geraldine’s great-uncle, William Pindell, had been one of the leaders in the struggle against school segregation in antebellum Boston.

Geraldine Pindell had known William Monroe Trotter, six months her …