Women's History Commons^™

Suburbanization As A Post-Industrial Essentiality: Revisiting Sweden's Miljonprogrammet, Colin Wood

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

Definitively speaking, suburbanization does not equate to post-industrialism in the same limelight as would urbanization and industrialism. However, anomalous cases, such as the one being discussed in this paper, tangentially interlink on a socioeconomic basis. In 1965, Sweden began construction of the Miljonprogrammet (Million Programme), where over the next ten years, over one million domiciles were built in a suburban setting leading to a mass diaspora of ‘slum living’ Swedish industrial workers. The nation’s renowned welfare state, built on a collaborative system between public and private sectors as well as federal and municipal actors, overlooked housing in its social …

Towards The Non-Spectacle: Responses To Necropolitics In The Artwork Of Teresa Margolles And Maya Watanabe, Leslie Anne Condon

Masters Theses

How do we engage with artwork that addresses complicated histories

of colonialism and political violence, specifically intangible and

incomprehensible violence? Mexican artist Teresa Margolles’ 2005 work, Lote

Bravo, is named after and composed of the soil from a mass grave site

discovered in 1995 in the southeastern corner of Ciudad Juárez, a city known

internationally for the femicide that has continued to haunt its streets and

peripheries since the 1990s. Peruvian filmmaker Maya Watanabe’s 2019 film

Liminal cinematically documents the official exhumation of two mass graves

in the Ayacucho and Huánuco regions of the Andes highlands, where

thousands of …

Shattered Windows: The Story Of Genora Johnson Dollinger, Eva Stone, And The Women Of Michigan, Brett Kovel

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The thesis, Shattered Windows, explores the significant roles of Genora Johnson Dollinger and Eva Stone in Michigan’s labor movements during the 1930s. It focuses on Dollinger’s leadership in the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936-37, where she mobilized women to join the picket lines, culminating in the formation of the Women’s Emergency Brigade. Her influence extended beyond Flint, inspiring women across Michigan to challenge corporate power and defend workers’ rights. Following Dollinger’s example, Eva Stone led protests against rising meat prices, further uniting women in economic activism. This work examines the unique contributions of these women, situating their efforts within a …

Culture Of Disease: A Historiographical Review Of The Black Death, Jack Bamford

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay ………………………………2

II. Document Selection ………………………. 22

III. Textbook Critique…………………………...32

IV. Original Textbook Entry…………………... 36

Chenoweth Prevails: The Connection Between Social Standards And The Marimba’S Development In The Western Art Music Tradition, Jackson Hall

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Among percussionists, the names of many marimbists come to mind before that of Vida Chenoweth (1928-2018), the pioneer of the modern marimba recital. Chenoweth began her first recital tour in the early 1950s at a time when the marimba did not yet have a dedicated solo repertoire, and women were largely excluded from performing on orchestral instruments. This thesis explores the musical and social contexts in which Chenoweth performed and worked, with particular attention to her recital history, critical reviews, and, through works written specifically for her performance, her technical abilities. She not only sparked the evolution of marimba technique …

Who’S On First? Kansas City’S Female Baseball Stars, 1899–1929, Revised, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

Although female players were typically excluded from formal baseball teams, teams consisting entirely or partly of female players were organized across the country as early as the mid-1800s. The first female baseball club in Kansas and adjacent states was organized in Wichita in 1873. These early teams predated the arrival of the barnstorming teams with female players and usually one or more male players, who were sometimes disguised as women. Female players on most of these early traveling teams wore bloomers, and the teams were referred to as “bloomer girls.” Women on later teams wore traditional baseball uniforms and objected …

The Stained & Bloody Cloths Of Ireland: A Material Culture View Of Irish Shame, Oppression, Morality And Repression., Catherine Harper Ph.D

Arts and Design

The Stained and Bloody Cloths of Ireland presents a textiles and material culture view of Irish shame, oppression, morality and repression.

Ireland – north and south – has sustained significant change in the last 100 years, since partial independence from Britain, accelerating at the end of the twentieth century with legalisation of contraception, divorce, gay marriage, the end – or at least reduction – of the ‘Troubles’ in the North, and freedom to choose abortion and reproductive autonomy.

In parallel to this, many instances of societal and ecclesiastical abuse, sexual repression, superstition and cruelty, have come to light through a …

Remember The Ladies: A Consideration Of The Subtle Contributions Of Women To The Patriot Cause, Davon Howard

Theses

Before the American Revolution, colonial women lived in a hierarchical society. When the fighting began, the constructs of that hierarchy were challenged and, in some cases, broken down, with only few remaining while the fight for freedom was in full effect. The battle for independence was not fought only on the battlefield. Women were left at home to survive in a harsh wartime world and desperately doing what they could to make sure there was a home to come back to. Even with such tremendous responsibility on their shoulders, and in addition to their struggles to secure the home front, …

Rubie K. Lee Photograph Albums, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of three photograph albums documenting Rubie K. Lee's work with the Methodist Church’s Women's Missionary Council (WMC) in Korea from the 1920s through the early 1930s. The photographs depict Korea under Japanese rule, showcasing its people and landscapes. Albums also contains photographs of the Ogeechee River flood of 1929, as well as an extensive collection of color postcards from Lee’s travels to Korea, Japan and China.

Reconceptualizing Madness: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Autobiography And The Cultural Landscape Of Insanity, Gender, And The Illness Experience, Claire Paley

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Sojourner Truth’S Vision: A Life Dedicated To Ending Injustice, Nyla R. Stokes

Emerging Writers

This essay explores the profound legacy of Sojourner Truth, a pivotal figure in the fight against injustice. Through a personal narrative interwoven with historical analysis, the author reflects on their initial ignorance of Truth's significance and how a school project transformed their understanding. The paper delves into Truth's life, including her experiences as a formerly enslaved woman, her impactful speeches and her collaboration with other notable activists. It examines the complexities of her identity as a Black woman in the 19th century, the societal perceptions of femininity, and the challenges she faced within the feminist movement. The author also draws …

Courting Bias: Effects Of Gender Socialization And Judges' Genders On Litigants And The Judiciary, Ellie Barmes

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Shaping A City: Municipal Housekeeping, Civic Activism, And Urban Environmentalism In Progressive Era Louisville Through The Women’S City Club, Amy J. Malventano

Theses and Dissertations--History

At the turn of the twentieth century, rapid industrialization and urban expansion transformed American cities, creating urgent challenges in governance, public health, and environmental management. In response, women across the United States extended their domestic expertise into the public sphere, spearheading initiatives to improve sanitation, waste disposal, and urban infrastructure. This dissertation examines the Louisville Women’s City Club (LWCC) as a case study of municipal housekeeping, demonstrating how middle-class women used their traditional roles to influence systemic reform in Louisville, Kentucky. By bridging gender history, urban environmentalism, and Progressive Era activism, this study reveals how the LWCC shaped public policy …

Virginia Woolf And The Lesbian Literary Tradition, Hunter Candrian-Velez

English and Creative Writing | Senior Theses

Modernist English authors, such as Virginia Woolf in her novel Orlando: A Biography, built upon a pre-existing and long tradition of underground lesbian literature dating back to Sappho in Ancient Greece. Before Woolf, female writers of the 19th century continued this tradition by establishing the literary trope of the “Victorian Romantic Female Friendship,” which would later take on different shapes and connotations with discoveries made in the early 1900s related to sexology and homosexual inversion. These discoveries would lead writers to code their work in the hopes of avoiding censorship and government punishment. Writers such as Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Gaskell, …

The “Problem Of Motherhood”: Early Soviet Maternity Policy And Reality, 1917 - 1936, Danielle M. Hegarty

All Master's Theses

After the October Revolution of 1917, the new Bolshevik regime sought to reshape the lives of women to fit the new socialist future. In line with Marxist thought, they attempted to draw mothers out of the home and into the public sphere. Through legal reforms and social services, the Communist Party worked to relieve mothers of the double burden which tied women between work and the home. This research focuses on the various methods used by the Bolsheviks in their attempt to reform motherhood in the decade after the revolution. Most importantly, it helps to uncover the impact it had …

Catherine The Great's Impact On Noblewomen: A Study Of Enlightened Femininity During The Russian Enlightenment, Mikaela Phillips

All Master's Theses

Catherine the Great (r. 1762-1796) changed Russia’s social and cultural life, allowing women to use traditional forms of female networks to record their ideas of enlightened femininity. By emphasizing selfless motherhood, Orthodox piety, and responsible morality, female memoirists recorded how the Russian Enlightenment influenced their roles within their families, communities, and court. Eighteenth-century Russian historiography has investigated Catherine’s Enlightenment reforms extensively, particularly her ability to harness masculine and feminine portrayals of her rule to fulfill her ambitions. This thesis focuses on four female memoirists that were impacted by Catherine’s reforms and the rhetoric of enlightened femininity that was introduced into …

Nuclear Reactions: Making Sense Of The Accident At Three Mile Island, Jordan Emily Bennett

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis examines the causes and consequences of the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in March of 1979. First detailing the event, this thesis then examines activist narratives following the accident, with a particular focus on women’s “motherist” activism in the community outside the plant, before turning to questions of memory and the creation of a public memory of survivorship in the community surrounding the plant. In considering these questions, this thesis seeks to shed light on the differences between official and communal narratives of the accident in an effort to understand the impacts that the partial meltdown at …

“Ignorance Is No Excuse”: Reproducing The Normative Female Body Through Mass Consumerism In Post-Wwii Women’S Magazines, Hannah E. Lorenz-Meyer

Scripps Senior Theses

In the Post-War era, women’s magazines took on a key role in cultural production, publishing literature, non-fiction articles, and advice on everything from marriage to fashion. Women’s magazines served a a form of propaganda, promoting a specific form of femininity that upheld the status quo. And that form of femininity was overwhelmingly affluent and White. By establishing magazines as a solution to women’s personal problems, editors served to shape the image of the post-war American woman. Nowhere is this vision more intimate than the way it was applied to the female body and reproduction. In this thesis, I analyze how …

Worn History: The Biography And Value Transformation Of Emma Sansaver's Dress, Lauren I. Stgeorge

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines the life of Emma Sansaver’s beaded buckskin dress as both a material object and a cultural witness. Worn during her time at the Fort Shaw Government Industrial Indian Boarding School and the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, the dress intersects with assimilationist policy, Indigenous resilience, public spectacle, and personal memory. Unlike the regalia of her teammates, Emma’s dress was preserved, first by Emma herself, then by her descendants, and continues to be cared for and displayed in educational and institutional settings today.

Using the theoretical frameworks of Arjun Appadurai and Igor Kopytoff, this project approaches the dress …

Aestheticizing And Engendering Disease: The Case Of Tuberculosis, Abigail Dollries

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

This thesis examines how tuberculosis, known in the nineteenth century as “consumption,” was aestheticized in American cultural and medical discourse, particularly in industrial cities of the North between 1830 and 1850. It addresses the paradox at the heart of the disease’s representation: while tuberculosis was medically pathologized, it was simultaneously romanticized, especially when afflicting elite white women. The central problem explored is how this aestheticization of illness functioned to reinforce gender, class, and racial hierarchies by transforming suffering into a symbol of virtue, refinement, and social status. Using a cultural-historical methodology, this project analyzes a range of sources, including medical …

Feminine Felons: Violent Offenders' Intersectional Experiences In Twentieth-Century Montana, Cassidy Ann Vander Voort

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper explores the treatment of violent female offenders in Montana in both the media and prison system from 1900-1960. Women of all races faced gender discrimination from both the carceral system and popular media. Local newspapers sensationalized crimes committed by female offenders, portraying them as women who lived outside of the expectations of womanhood in the twentieth century. Newspapers and courts placed women into two categories: “mad/sad” female offenders, who received forgiveness for their crimes; or unforgivable, “bad” offenders. Crime did not determine these categorizations; instead, gender expectations of the white middle class shaped female criminals’ treatment. If these …

America's Highest Stage: Utopians, Capitalists, And Trail Runners On Pikes Peak, Mitchell Morris

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Since ancient times, Pikes Peak’s prominence on the land has endowed it with prominence in the minds of all who have lived around it. This ancient dynamic was reinforced in the nineteenth century by the famed expedition of Lieutenant Zebulon Pike in 1806 and the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush in 1858. Since then, the mountain has become a stage. Standing tall, visible from hundreds of miles around, and known from coast to coast, Pikes Peak is a platform that has attracted diverse historical actors to come and perform, elevate their endeavors to new heights, and demonstrate what they, and people …

Frances E. W. Harper, “We Are All Bound Up Together” (10 May 1866), Garth Pauley

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Frances Harper’s address at the 1866 National Woman’s Rights Convention was a visionary speech on civil rights, citizenship, and civic identity. In it, Harper skillfully negotiated the context of nineteenth-century reform politics while remaining true to her vision. The message of her speech was grounded in both her experience as a Black woman and her theological convictions. A close reading of the speech shows that key elements—including its signature line—have been misunderstood and unappreciated.

Seeking Refuge: Aid, Community, And Motivations Among Traveling Women In The 1711 Swiss Anabaptist Migration, Kailey M. Freeman-Depelisi

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis explores the logistics of travel, connections between women, and the motivations of Swiss Anabaptist women who were part of a forced migration from Bern to Amsterdam in 1711. In the early eighteenth century, Anabaptists, religious dissenters who were persecuted heavily within the canton of Bern, were aided through the intervention of the Dutch Anabaptist Committee for Foreign Need (Committee). The Committee commissioned Johann Ludwig Runckel, to deescalate the situation and organize the migration of Anabaptists the Bernese government expelled. Following negotiations, Anabaptists, (Amish and Reistian) took part, as well as people with loose connections to the faith. The …

Front Matter - Zamani 1, No. 2, Editors Note

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

The editors are pleased to present to you the second issue of Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies. Volume 1 Number 2 has a collection of research and forum articles as well as book reviews. There are four articles that builds from field research with different themes spanning from neolithic to the postcolonial periods. The themes include new neolithic dating; smallpox control in early colonial period in the former German East Africa (now Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi); evasion of colonial taxation; and the connection between land legislations and land conflicts among the peasant and pastoral communities. There are also …

New Chronology For Neolithic Cultures In The Lake Eyasi Basin, Northern Tanzania, Musa Said Mwitondi, Pastory Magayane Bushozi

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

There have been several studies on Neolithic Cultures in the Serengeti National. The recovered archaeological materials include domestic and wild fauna remains, potsherds and lithic artefacts, ochre, and stone enclosures, dating between 7200 and 4900 BP. In the East African Rift System (EARS), conventional ages for Neolithic Cultures are inferred from the most extensively researched Neolithic sites in Kenya, where the oldest Nderit ware, cattle and caprine in the Lake Turkana Basin, northern Kenya, date ca. 5200 BP. Studies on the Neolithic of EARS have been structured to fit into the migration or diffusion models that consider the spread of …

Smallpox Outbreaks And Immunization Policies In Tanzania From The Late Nineteenth Century To The First World War, Lorne Larson

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

An estimated 300 million people died globally from smallpox in the 20th century alone. There was very much a North/South divide in the existence of the disease in that period, with countries across South America, Africa and Asia recording the majority of cases. In 1966 the World Health Organization launched an intensive effort to finally eliminate the disease. The last known endemic case of smallpox was reported in Somalia in 1977, and that outbreak was promptly contained. In 1980 smallpox was declared eradicated – the only infectious disease affecting humans to achieve this distinction. This remains among the most notable …

'Evading The Tax Collector’: Native Responses To The Head Tax In Colonial Njombe, Tanzania, 1920-1960, Peter Chaula, Hezron Kangalawe

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

Tax collection was one of the core preoccupations of the colonial government in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and other colonies in the Africa that persisted even after independence. Direct taxation formed the basis of colonial taxation in Tanganyika. Head tax was a dominant form of direct taxation with its burden being borne primarily by Africans. This article uses the colonial Njombe District of Tanganyika to explore the responses of the African taxpayers to the head tax. The available data indicates that colonial head tax policies and practices in Njombe elicited varied responses from Africans with covert forms forming the mainstay of …

Revisiting African Religion As An Academic Discipline In Africa: History And Prospects, Ivan B. Kivinge

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

Three main religious traditions—indigenous African beliefs and practices (African religion), Christianity and Islam—have dominated everyday life of communities in Africa today. Scholarship on religion indicates that only African religion originated in Africa— Christianity and Islam are foreign religions. Many Africans today have been active Christians and Muslims, who are sometimes being misleadingly taught that African religion is demonic and forms of paganism. This article employs historical and philosophical approaches to show how the study of African religion has navigated through various historical currents and resultant implications on the way the current generation views it. In the end, the article proposes …

Major Trends In Oral Historiography In Mainland Tanzania, 1960s To The Present: A Review Of Published Sources, Albertus K. Onyiego

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

This article examines the role of oral methodology in reconstructing historical knowledge in Mainland Tanzania over the last six decades. Although greater attention is paid to the period from the 1960s onwards, efforts have been made to illuminate on the use of oral methodology in the period before. The article is organised into four temporal sections, each representing a distinct phase of oral methodology. The first section explores the role of oral methodology before independence. It will be noticed that the gradual use of oral sources in the writing of history in Mainland Tanzania started way back during German and …