Women's History Commons^™

Stray Threads: Factory Women In Fiction From The Freehold Farm To The Rented Room, 1840-1875, Meghan Wadle

English Theses and Dissertations

As industrialism unmoored agrarian-based American values surrounding independence, individualism, and the gender roles attached to labor, it demanded imaginative solutions for these potentially broken ideologies in antebellum fiction. This project, in two parts, explores how factory women stood at the center of the industrializing U.S.’s cultural identity crisis. In Part One authors from Herman Melville to Harriet Jacobs imagine women laboring in the industrial marketplace as a form of deviant dependency. Here, sexualized depictions of female laborers symptomatize national anxieties about how economic change might transform political freedom by simultaneously modifying traditional forms of patriarchal control. In Part Two, Lucy …

A Happy Marriage Of Inconvenience: The Power Of Adrienne De La Fayette Over Her Destiny In Eighteenth-Century France, Brittany I. Fox

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Extensive analysis and interpretation have occurred concerning the Marquis de Lafayette and his contributions to the American War for Independence and the Revolutionary French era. However, the discourse on his wife, Adrienne de Noailles, the Marquise de La Fayette, has been confined to a chapter within her husband's larger narrative. Examining her agency over her circumstances, Adrienne proves to be more than an idealistic angel suffering from a tumultuous time period.

“I Am The Handmaid Of The Lord”: The Spiritual Development Of Mary Ward Amidst English Catholic Clerical Crisis, 1585 – 1630, Alyson Borowczyk

History Theses

In late Tudor and Stuart England, exercising one’s Catholic beliefs could potentially lead to a martyr’s reward. Since the practice of Catholicism was clandestine, homes became parishes within themselves, with the woman of the house serving as pastoral administrator. She was charged with taking care of the priests she was illegally harboring, and she was also responsible for educating the young in the ways of the Faith to ensure it did not die with her generation. These were indeed subversive acts, because she defied the State and its laws. Mary Ward, foundress of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, …

Strange Women: The Evaluation And Comparison Of Female Characters In Akira Kurosawa's Films, Alice Jiron Jang

History

The successes of Akira Kurosawa’s films have shaped and influenced Western views on Japan after World War II. While the male characters in Kurosawa’s films have been analyzed extensively, there is a focus on the subservience of this female characters. With the growing number of independent working women in a seemingly patriarchal society, it is important to study what has caused these women to break free from their traditional roles as housewife and mother. While some of Kurosawa's female characters are designed to be powerful and independent, others are submissive and obedient. The events that occur in postwar Japan have …

From A Whisper To A Rebellion: Examining Space, Race, Sexuality, And Resistance Within The Confines Of The Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, Hannah Walker

Women's History Theses

“From a Whisper to a Rebellion” examines the history of the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Bedford Hills, New York. It is not a chronological history. Instead this thesis is intended to wedge open spaces in the study of carceral institutions within the United States. Bedford’s past as a model reformatory cum maximum-security prison for women charts the expansion and transformation of the penal system within the United States during the twentieth century. I examine three specific themes in an attempt to situate the current discussion of mass incarceration within a broader history of penal institutions. These include: the spatial …

Women And Carriages In 17th-Century Aragonese Burlesque Poetry, Almudena Vidorreta

Publications and Research

During the 17th century, literature turned the growing number of carriages into a burlesque topic. There were countless poems written about traffic jams, accidents, or the proper way to ask a friend for a carriage, often considered a symbol of status. Literary references to carriages can tell us many things about the men and women who used them, as well as about gender stereotypes. Women and carriages were understood as interconnected elements in Early Modern Spain; carriages appear as a means to conquer feminine muses as well as a recurrent satirical topic even for women poets. This article analyzes some …

In The Field The Women Saved The Crop: The Women’S Land Army Of World War Ii, Denna M. Clymer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Women’s Land Army brought together rural and urban sectors of the United States in a climate of national and regional crisis. By the time the country was cast into war, the agricultural sector was already caught in a downward economic spiral that drove away laborers. With demand falling, and farms propped up only by experiments in subsidy and parity, when military and industrial jobs emerged in urban areas, farm laborers became scarce. At the same time the war created jobs for men outside of the agricultural sector, farm prices recovered and demand soared, forcing farmers to look to women …

Women In Wartime Shipyards: Operating A Drill Press Was Like Using An Egg Beater, Carol A. Strohmetz

Master's Theses

This research examines the duality of the roles of American women during World War II. The research draws upon oral histories, newspaper accounts and advertisements, music and films of the time, letters and family scrapbooks, and primary and secondary sources. Most prior research focuses on either women in the workforce or women in the home. This research synthesizes all aspects of the lives of women as they navigated the hostile terrain of the male workforce and continued to perform the duties assigned to them by society. This research highlights the multiple roles that women successfully executed as they cared for …

Since The Time Of Eve : La Leche League And Communities Of Mothers Throughout History., Joanna Paxton Federico

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

La Leche League International (LLL) is the oldest and largest breastfeeding support group in the world. This thesis examines how, beginning in 1956, seven Catholic housewives from suburban Chicago built up the institutional knowledge to sustain a cohesive global network of breastfeeding mothers. It also explores how LLL managed this knowledge over time in response to developments in scholarship and changing social conditions. Based on a narrative analysis of LLL publications, this thesis argues that the League’s founders drew selectively from existing bodies of knowledge and from their own cultural perspectives to establish a sense of community among breastfeeding women. …

Southern Veils : The Sisters Of Loretto In Early National Kentucky., Hannah O'Daniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the experiences of Roman Catholic women who joined the Sisters of Loretto, a community of women religious in rural Washington and Nelson Counties, Kentucky, between the 1790s and 1826. It argues that the Sisters of Loretto used faith to interpret and respond to unfolding events in the early nation. The women sought to combat moral slippage and restore providential favor in the face of local Catholic institutional instability, global Protestant evangelical movements, war and economic crisis, and a tuberculosis outbreak. The Lorettines faced financial, social, and cultural pressures—including an economic depression, a culture that celebrated family formation …

Writing The Experiences And (Corporeal) Knowledges Of Women Of Color Into Educational Studies: A Colloquium, A. B. V. M. M. Armstrong-Carela-Martínez-Pérez-Ruiz Guerrero

Pedagogy & (Im)Possibilities across Education Research (PIPER)

In this colloquium, we share collaborative ideas that came about during a weekend retreat. We center our discussions on Chicana and Black feminisms and Womanism, specifically addressing how women of color feminisms inspire us; imagining/defining space; tensions within our sisterhoods; transforming (inner)coloniality by embracing our lived herstories; and how Chicana and Black feminisms and Womanism transform educational studies. We leave readers with hopes for our-selves, our fields, our sisters, and for the world. While not exact tellings of our pláticas during our retreat, we capture and share the essence of burning questions, ideas, and hopes that arose for us when …

Mistreated & Misremembered: A Tale Of Two Annes, Elizabeth H. Dunn

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

The two poems and historical notes that I worked on were a part of my interest in both history and poetry, especially since many historical figures remain misunderstood, ignored, or misinterpreted. Throughout my research I tried to find a personal voice for all of the subjects within the poems, Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Anne of Cleves. Though the poetic form gave me creative freedom, I did want to approach each name as more than just a reputation, but as a person. In my view, Henry VIII's notorious reputation and infamy still reigns today because of his many wives and …

Dean's Desk: Past And Present, Women Play Key Roles At Iu Maurer, Austen L. Parrish

Austen Parrish (2014-2022)

Under first lady Laurie Burns McRobbie’s leadership, Indiana University founded Women’s Philanthropy as one way to celebrate alumnae leadership and to make the achievements of our most talented and trailblazing women graduates more visible. As the IU Maurer School of Law’s 175th year draws to a close, consistent with these larger University efforts, it’s an opportune time to celebrate some of the law school’s extraordinary women graduates. Their stories are powerful and inspiring, and I’m pleased to share just a few.

Family Structure In Early Modern Scotland, Chloe Chaplin

Posters-at-the-Capitol

This research project will explore interpersonal relationships in early modern Scotland. The early modern period is commonly defined at 1500-1750. Under Dr. Callahan's guidance, we looked at archival evidence from the early modern period in the National Records of Scotland which primarily consisted of personal correspondence. Since this project will focus on the upper classes and the depictions of family structures in personal correspondence, these letters between family members provide critical evidence to draw conclusions about family life in early modern Europe. By studying personal correspondence conclusions can be drawn regarding family structure along the lines of economic activity, domestic …

Naming Rape: The Social Practice Of Power, Agency, And Victimization In The Italo-Ethiopian War, 1936-1940, Caroline Waldron Merithew

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This paper, “Naming Rape,” shows how and when rape got named as part of the movement against the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1936. I show that activists used the term strategically at certain points and specific places of the struggle to sway opinion and move the international community to challenge fascist violence and expansionism. Naming rape was something new for antiwar activists at this time.

"Ever True And Loyal:" Mary Todd Lincoln As A Kentuckian, Andrew Landreth

Scholars Week

This paper considers Mary Todd Lincoln from the perspective of her relationship with her home state of Kentucky. Utilizing her own writings and those of her contemporaries, as well as secondary studies, this paper argues that Mary Todd Lincoln's life and relationships embodied many of the same contradictions of her home state and that important aspects of her public and private life were influenced by her upbringing in antebellum Kentucky. Particular emphasis is placed on her views of slavery and on her relationship with the Todd family during the Civil War.

'Were We Hard On Teachers Or What?': The Female Rural Schoolteacher Of Wabaunsee And Pottawatomie Counties, Kansas, 1908-1950, Katie Goerl

Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy

Immortalized in pioneer tales and rural history as an icon of early Kansas, the female one-room schoolteacher represents more than an instructor of readin', 'riting, and 'rithmetic. Sometimes called a "school mother," historians often note that she also served as nurse, janitor, fire builder, ash carrier, snow shoveler, program director, and coat buttoner. Popular media and museum exhibits tend either to reference the longstanding cliché of the strict, prudish, old "schoolmarm" or paint a rosy portrait of a plucky yet feminine youth. Upon careful consideration of the evidence, a more nuanced profile emerges of a young, single woman, who labored …

"Avenging Furies": The Memoirs Of American Women In The Philippines During The Second World War, Meghan E. O'Donnell

Student Publications

A large and active resistance movement developed in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation of the islands from 1942-1945. This paper discusses the memoirs of several women caught up in these movements, specifically Claire Phillips, Margaret Utinsky, Yay Panlilio, and Virginia Hansen Holmes. I argue that these women utilized their memoirs to secure places for themselves in history, using gendered and racialized language to define their experiences as incredible adventures. Their memoirs give significant insight into the civilian experience of the Japanese occupation and testify to the unique efforts made by women to support the American cause.

Butch Between The Wars: A Pre-History Of Butch Style In Twentieth-Century Literature, Music, And Film, Karen Allison Hammer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Butch Between the Wars is a pre-history of “butch,” a twentieth-century masculine style that became an identity category for lesbians in the 1940s and ’50s. Between the two world wars and in the early postwar period, women used the energy of butch to create literature, music, and character on film. Butch-styled artists expressed a muscular orientation to the world, one with close associations to lower and working class black and white masculinities. Those who were recognizably lesbian and those with less clearly defined sexualities challenged the idea that strength, authority, and independence are qualities “naturally” bound to the male body. …

Integrity & Incentives: Seeking Equity In Historic Preservation Law, Anneka Olson

Access*: Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Research and Scholarship

In this article, the author presents a case study of mobile home park residents seeking historic designation in the face of neighborhood demolition. The neighborhood’s ineligibility to become a historic site under current law can help demonstrate larger patterns of inequitable outcomes within historic preservation practice. In particular, the author argues that the application of preservation law—despite being formally neutral regarding issues of racial and socioeconomic equity—reinforces existing racial, economic, and spatial inequities. Drawing on the challenge of legal closure from critical legal studies (CLS), the author argues that law and historicity are mutually constituting, and that subjective notions of …

Vintage Red.Docx, Rowan Cahill

Rowan Cahill

Native American Women: A Silent Presence In History, Jackie Krogmeier

The Purdue Historian

No abstract provided.

Beware The Mammoni: My Search To Understand Domestic Violence In Italian-American Culture And Rhode Island's Family Court, Anne Grant

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Since I disapproved of stereotypes, I found myself trying to comprehend Italian-American culture after I became executive director of the largest shelter in Rhode Island for battered women and their children. Many of those I met were fleeing Italian-American men. On 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl reported from Italy about the large number of single men who still live with their parents and are known as mammoni, or “mama’s boys.” Their mothers dutifully cook and clean for them. The Roman Catholic Church’s view of the Holy Family reinforces mammoni culture. I learned that Rome’s founding legend starts with men …

Book Reviews: Recent Books On Pornography: From Discussions Of Harm To Normalization, Robert Brannon

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Nine books addressing the specific harms linked to adults’ viewing of heterosexual pornography are examined. All were published since 2010, and range from some that are opposed to all pornography, to others that approve of pornography. The books differ considerably in scope, quality, and scientific rigor. Several include discussions of the feminist anti-pornography movement, in the U.S. and worldwide, from 1975 to the present. These accounts range from criticism of the anti-pornography movement to praise and appreciation. This collection of books provides a useful view of the remarkable diversity of thought about all issues connected with pornography’s effects on adult …

Flapperism: A National Phenomenon Comes To New Orleans, Tracy Carrero

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Rountree, Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie," 1853-1912 (Sc 3136), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3136. Letter, 10 January 1869 of “Mag” (or “May”) to Lizzie Rountree, Lebanon, Kentucky. Writing from Louisville, Kentucky, she tells Lizzie that she will not be returning to Caldwell Institute in Danville, Kentucky, where they had been schoolmates. She notes the departure of three additional students and reports on the whereabouts of others.

“Being A Caregiver Is The Most Sincere Love You Can Have”: Experienced Caregivers Discuss Dirty Work And Good Care, Osmara Vanessa Osuna

Women's History Theses

No abstract provided.

An Open Letter To Media Creators: History Is A Noun. Women’S History Is A Verb., Lauri Blaire Schulman

Women's History Theses

No abstract provided.

“Want To Do Something About It?”: Black Women’S Activism In The Era Of The Equal Rights Amendment, Amanda Kozar

Women's History Theses

White-dominated feminist groups were hard-pressed to build racially diverse organizations in the 1970s. To understand this lack of diversity and understanding across racial lines, this paper examines the activities of three Black women’s activist organizations during the era of the campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment. This paper urges white-dominated feminist organizations to use an intersectional approach as they continue to develop their feminism.

"Not Your Mother's Pta": Women's Political Activism In Twentieth-Century America, Jennifer Lynn Mcpherson

History ETDs

Not Your Mother’s PTA: Women’s Political Activism in Twentieth-Century America provides the first in-depth study of women’s political activism in the National PTA and its local PTA units. It closely examines how women integrated themselves and their ideas on women’s and children’s welfare reform into government from the 1890s through the 1970s. This project explores the resources, strategies, and methods used by PTA women working for women and children’s interests at the local and national level, primarily in public schools and government agencies. Not Your Mother’s PTA challenges the subtext of the PTA mother/housewife and shows how women used the …