Women's History Commons^™

Edith Wilson And The Treaty Of Versailles, Ceili Janae Charley

Young Historians Conference

Edith boiling Wilson used her position as First Lady to assume presidential powers, including making executive decisions. She was the single most important non-elected presidential advisor of all time. This paper describes Edith’s growing political involvement, the decisions she made after Woodrow Wilson’s stroke in October, 1919, and the impact of her decisions on the defeat of the Treaty of Versailles.

Book Review Of, Black Woman Reformer: Ida B. Wells, Lynching, And Transatlantic Activism, Patricia A. Schechter

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reviews the book by Sarah L. Silkey. "Black Woman Reformer: Ida B. Wells, Lynching, and Transatlantic Activism". Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2015.

Ordinary Women/Extraordinary Lives: Oregon Women And Their Stories Of Persistence, Grit And Grace, Shannon Moon Leonetti

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis tells the stories of five Oregon women who transcended the customary roles of their era. Active during the waning years of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, each woman made a difference in the world around them. Their stories have either not been told or just given a passing glance. These tales are important because they inform us about our society on the cusp of the twentieth century.

Hattie Crawford Redmond was the daughter of a freed slave who devoted herself to the fight for women's suffrage. Minnie Mossman Hill was the first woman …

The Dichotomy Of Pudicitia, Amber L. Harvey

Young Historians Conference

The lives of women in the Roman Republic were incredibly restricted and controlled by their male counterparts, yet key counters to this restriction are often overlooked, mainly that of a woman’s pudicitia. Pudicitia was a defining moral quality that encompassed state, familial, sexual, and other duties, a woman held in society. These qualities, are shown in the mythical Rape of the Sabines, and allow female participation in the Conflict of the Orders and the defiance of the Vestal Virgins. These allowances are countered by aspects of pudicitia that restricted rights and participation, ultimately yielding a system that paradoxically encouraged …

Livia's Power In Ancient Rome, Tori L. Allen

Young Historians Conference

When one thinks of the ancient Roman heroes, Caesar and Augustus come to mind. We picture Roman men on the front lines in culture and society, while the women are kept back and oppressed. And while women definitely faced obstacles in ancient Rome, it didn't stop them from making an impact. This paper argues that Livia, wife of Roman emperor Augustus, was able to secretly manipulate politics in Rome as a mother and a wife, as seen in honorific statues, Ovid's poetry, and honorific titles.

Power Structure, Nathaniel Klein

Young Historians Conference

By today's standards morally reprehensible subjects are difficult to examine, however, from a historical perspective topics such as infanticide offer insight into individual behavior, therefore reflecting societal norms. This paper explores the practice of infanticide used during the course of the 7th century BCE to reinforce the power structures of the period. Infanticide was far more than a simple way to dispose of unwanted offspring; it was a tool that was used by ancient Greek societies to maintain systems of control and promote social values upon which society depended.

The Enigma Of The Spartan Woman, Jalena M. Post

Young Historians Conference

Active in both social and economic spheres, Spartan women possessed much more mobility than their counterparts in Athens. In the areas of education, the arts, land ownership, marriage, and family life, the women of Sparta enjoyed a large amount of sovereignty when compared to other ancient societies. The absence of Spartan men during almost constant times of war necessitated women taking on more responsibility than they would have otherwise, but to what extent? This paper strives to characterize the unique role of the women of Sparta during the classical period of Greek history, especially as in contrast to their Athenian …

A View To Women’S Networks In The Arts In Portland: Building And Engaging An Audience For The Artist Rosemarie Beck, Jenna Barganski

Lyric Truth: Rosemarie Beck

Essay on building an audience for the Rosemarie Beck art exhibit and multidisciplinary symposium.

A Painter And Her Poet: Rosemarie Beck And Marcia Nardi, Patricia A. Schechter

Lyric Truth: Rosemarie Beck

Presentation focuses on the relationship between Rosemarie Beck (1923-2003) and the poet Marcia Nardi (1901-1990).

Historicizing Subjectivities: Antigone, Rosemarie Beck And A Lesbian New Yorker, Jamie P. Ross

Lyric Truth: Rosemarie Beck

Presentation examines Rosemarie Beck's development, as a woman and artist as part of the larger social/body politic of the time. Her sense of self as an individual, her individual acts, whether or not she participated in consciousness raising sessions and equal rights marches, perhaps are not as important as her historicized experiences; the creation of her subjectivity.

"Lyric Truth" Exhibit Catalogue, Sue Taylor, Nora Beck, Prudence F. Roberts, Patricia A. Schechter, Namita Gupta Wiggers

Lyric Truth: Rosemarie Beck

Catalogue published in connection with the exhibition "Lyric Truth: Paintings, Drawings, and Embroideries by Rosemarie Beck".

The Catholic Church: Shaping The Roles Of Medieval Women, Ashley N. Just

Young Historians Conference

The paradoxical modern expectation for women to remain virgins while simultaneously being sexual objects for men to enjoy as they please is a result of the ideology of the Catholic Church in Medieval Europe. Christian doctrine at this time presented an image of women as inherently weak and prone to sexual sin as a result of Eve's Original Sin. This weakness then led to the expectation that women would remain chaste and subservient, which in turn inhibited the power and influence women possessed Medieval society. Many of the issues modern feminism fights to remedy result from these historical Christian ideas.

Alexander's Empire, Sema Hasan

Young Historians Conference

Alexander the Great is known for creating one of the world’s largest empires but, many are not familiar with the people "behind the scenes" who contributed to his success. This paper examines the role of women in Alexander’s rise to power and their influence in his political campaign. In the cutthroat world of Macedonian politics, it was Alexander’s mother who played a crucial part in establishing her son as king, and used all available tools including murder and deception to do so. Despite the fact that women had little opportunity to become rulers themselves, their involvement in Alexander’s reign was …

Griswold V. Connecticut: A Study Of Resistance To Sexual Revolution In Connecticut, 1961, Natalie Pearson

Young Historians Conference

In 1965, the last remaining anticontraceptive law in the United States was made unconstitutional in Griswold v. Connecticut. Despite widespread acceptance of the use of contraceptives, Connecticut legislatures put up incredible resistance to the sexual revolution of the 1960s and subsequent demand that the statute--outlawing individual use of contraceptives--be removed. This paper asserts Connecticut's foundation as a haven for Protestant values as the reason for this determined resistance to the acceptance of contraceptives.

Riveting Rosie's Riveting Struggles: Women Shipyard Workers In Wwii, Stephanie Lippincott

Young Historians Conference

The women workers of WWII are generally portrayed as strong, happy, independent women sporting colorful bandanas and cocky grins, yet this manicured Rosie-the-Riveter image is a far cry from capturing the experiences of the average woman laborer on the home front. An examination the Kaiser shipyards in Portland and Vancouver makes it evident that women workers faced a plethora of obstacles and stressors in the workplace, only to find themselves booted back into the position of housewife at the end of the war.

Girl Power: The Episcopate And Female Agency In The Central Middle Ages, Jackie Brooks

Anthós

In 1076, Henry IV, King of Germany (1056-1106), convened a synod of bishops with the intention of denouncing and deposing Pope Gregory VII (1073-85) in response to the latter’s actions after the Lenten Synod of 1075. A majority of the German bishops present, allied with Henry, produced a letter to Gregory in which they renounced the method of his ascension to the papacy, as well as the methods he employed to achieve the reform he sought. In one passage, they particularly renounced Gregory’s well-known close relationships with several powerful women. The complaints of the bishops revolve around the belief that …

Who Owns This Body? Enslaved Women's Claim On Themselves, Loucynda Elayne Sandeen

Dissertations and Theses

During the antebellum period of U.S. slavery (1830-1861), many people claimed ownership of the enslaved woman's body, both legally and figuratively. The assumption that they were merely property, however, belies the unstable, shifting truths about bodily ownership. This thesis inquires into the gendered specifics and ambiguities of the law, the body, and women under slavery. By examining the particular bodily regulation and exploitation of enslaved women, especially around their reproductive labor, I suggest that new operations of oppression and also of resistance come into focus.

The legal structure recognized enslaved women in the interest of owners, and this limitation was …

Rural Revolution: Documenting The Lesbian Land Communities Of Southern Oregon, Heather Jo Burmeister

Dissertations and Theses

Out of the politically charged atmosphere of the 1960s and 1970s emerged a migration to "the land" and communes, which popularly became known as the back-to-the-land movement. This migration occurred throughout the United States, as well as many other countries, and included clusters of land based communities in southern Oregon. Within these clusters, lesbian feminist women created lesbian separatist lands and communes. These women were well educated, and politically active in movements such as the New Left, Civil Rights, Women's Liberation, and Gay Liberation. These lands or communes functioned together as a community network that developed and commodified lesbian art, …

“The Woman I Love”: The Underlying Motives For King Edward Viii’S Abdication, Sarah Gimble

Young Historians Conference

The human tendency to over-romanticize stories heard about politicians reflects our simple desire to cling to a ray of hope in a world where news is not always satisfying. This was the case with the supposed love story surrounding King Edward VIII, Wallis Simpson, and the King's subsequent abdication. A closer inspection reveals that the King's "love" for a married woman and his willingness to abdicate were no more than an escape from the life he never wanted. This paper will explore King Edward VIII's political and personal motives for quitting the job he was destined to perform.

Women Of The Scientific Revolution: The Forgotten Scholars, Sema Hasan

Young Historians Conference

Many people today are familiar with the achievements of famous scientists such as Galileo or Newton, but little is known about the scientific contributions that were made by women. Throughout history the world of academia was dominated by men, but it was during the Scientific Revolution that opportunity arose for women to participate in the sciences. In a time when women faced prejudice and skepticism, some managed to break away from the set expectations and enter into a career of their own. This paper offers a look into the lives of women scientists who have been dis-remembered by history.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett And The Carceral State, Patricia A. Schechter

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

My remarks today are entitled "Ida B. Wells-Barnett and the Carceral State." I want to focus on the carceral state—that is, the government functions of 'confining, surveillance and punishment'—in order to engage with some recent scholarship on race, policing, and imprisonment in the United States. These are topics that Wells-Barnett had a great deal to say about hundred years ago, especially as related to lynching. I’d like to suggest that her work in prison reform, probation work, and advocacy for inmates back in the progressive era connects to the contemporary crisis around race and mass incarceration in important ways.

Not All Were Created Equal, Sarah Cox

Young Historians Conference

This paper explores the exceptional social, political and economic status afforded to women in Sparta by their society. Women were not simply relegated to the domestic sphere in Sparta, their responsibilities included managing both public and private affairs in the absence of their husbands, brothers and fathers. Their collective role in society allowed them to contribute to and serve their city state. It asserts that women in Sparta, unlike their contemporaries in other ancient Greek city states, had more opportunities to affect the overall impact of Sparta as a dominate military power.

Portland's Goose Hollow, Tracy J. Prince

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

One of Portland’s oldest neighborhoods, Goose Hollow is steps from downtown and beloved for its quirky character, historic homes, spectacular views, and walkability. Over a century ago, the actual “hollow” was dramatically altered when the meandering Tanner Creek, in a deep gulch with several trestle bridge crossings, was diverted underground and infilled. The creek’s presence is still felt in the ravine carved through the Tualatin Mountains (spanned by the Vista Bridge) and in the neighborhood’s identity. This book provides definitive answers to how Goose Hollow got its name and how Tanner Creek Gulch was filled. Stories are also told of …

"Heaven's Last, Worst Gift To White Men": The Quadroons Of Antebellum New Orleans, Erin Elizabeth Mccullugh

Dissertations and Theses

Visitors to Antebellum New Orleans rarely failed to comment on the highly visible population of free persons of color, particularly the women. Light, but not white, the women who collectively became known as Quadroons enjoyed a degree of affluence and liberty largely unknown outside of Southeastern Louisiana. The Quadroons of New Orleans, however, suffered from neglect and misrepresentation in nineteenth and twentieth-century accounts.

Historians of slavery and southern black women, for example, have written at length on the sexual experiences of black women and white men. Most of the research, however, centers on the institutionalized rape, victimization, and exploitation of …

Anticipated Effects Of The U.S. Mexico City Policy On The Attainability Of The Millennium Development Goals And Future Development Efforts In Sub-Saharan Africa, Katherine Clare Alexander

Anthós

In the low-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the performance of pyramidal reproductive health and family planning services with public outreach initiatives has not met the expectations or the needs of the communities they serve. Insufficient case management, limited management capacity and referral and communication failures are challenges faced on the delivery level, while on the policy level these health clinics face insufficient coordination among organizations and weak links between programs (Schneider, 2006). The Mexico City Policy, first introduced by President Reagan in 1984, only exacerbated these challenges for organizations that offer comprehensive contraception and family planning programs by denying any …

Congress And The Era, Emily Yoder

Anthós

The Equal Rights Amendment was a constitutional amendment that guaranteed that the "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." In this paper I will analyze the policy process in the critical years from the ERA's discharge from committee in 1970 to its passage through Congress in 1972 through both primary documents and scholarly opinion. By thoroughly examining the controversy over the ERA through the views and strategies of those advocating and opposing it, I will show how the momentum for social change characterized …

Fur Trade Daughters Of The Oregon Country: Students Of The Sisters Of Notre Dame De Namur, 1850, Shawna Lea Gandy

Dissertations and Theses

Ethnicity, religion, class, and gender are important elements in determining the cultural texture of society. This study examines these components at an important junction in the history of the Pacific Northwest through the lives of students enrolled in two girls' schools established by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SNDN) in the Willamette Valley in the 1840s. These girls, predominantly métis daughters of fur-trade settlers and their Indian wives, along with their Irish and Anglo-American classmates, represent the socioeconomic and cultural transformation of the region as the mixing that gave rise to the unique intermediary culture referred to as …

Love, Marriage, And Motherhood: Changing Expectations Of Women In Late Ottomanistanbul, Pelin Basci

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study examines the early work of famous novelist Halide Edip Adıvar against the background of public discussions on women and gender in late-Ottoman society. Gender relations and women's issues constituted a fertile ground for the debate about social transformation. Edip and her feminist peers wrote about passionate love, companionship in marriage, the significance of motherhood, and women's legal rights in their works. This reflects women's vision of new gender relations and provides evidence for their contributions to the forging of Turkish modernity prior to the founding of the Turkish Republic. It also illustrates the hybrid nature of culture, which …

Nan Wood Honeyman And The Politicization Of Women In Oregon, 1870-1942, Katherine Lee Moon

Dissertations and Theses

The history of women during the 1930's, as well as the history of women in Oregon in general, is a widely neglected topic. This thesis attempts to remedy this situation by chronicling one particular aspect of women in Oregon history in the 1930's - women in politics - using the life of Nan Wood Honeyman as a reference point. As the first woman to go to Congress from the state of Oregon, Honeyman acts as a very interesting model for viewing the conditions of women in politics during this time.

In order to better describe the political situation of women …

“Wars Of The Three Margarets”: Women In The Wars Of The Roses, Barbara Jean Traver

Dissertations and Theses

No study has yet examined the role of elite women in the Wars of the Roses. However, an explanation of their motivations and actions is crucial to understanding these conflicts.

Aristocratic women exercised considerable power under the system of "bastard feudalism." Women built and maintained affinities, acquired and defended land, used and manipulated the law, and influenced local politics. They had acknowledged roles as peacemakers and knew how to defend a castle. During the Wars of the Roses women would make use of all of these tools.

Three women played such an important role in these conflicts that they might …