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Sunday, November 28, 2010

START HERE - FIRST TIME USERS

     In the early part of the 19th Century women were fairly isolated in the home, particularly middle class women, for whom running the household could be an all-encompassing task.  Fortunately, changes in the late 19th Century brought women more leisure time than ever before.  Denied an education and the right to vote, these women sought ways to better themselves and develop as people.

An explosion of clubs started in the mid-1800's with the formation of clubs designed by women, run by women and created for the betterment of women - clubs like Sorosis and the New England Women's Club led the way.  In 1890, the General Federation of Women's Clubs was founded as a place for the various women's clubs to work together.  To give an idea of the growth of the movement, sixty-six clubs initially formed the federation in 1890.  By 1916 there were over 2,000 clubs in the Federation.

Why would a group of social clubs for women be important to history?  Read on and see....


Notes on using this site:

  • Begin at the entry labelled "Life for Women in the 19th Century"
  • Scroll down to examine earlier posts
  • To continue, at the bottom of the page click "older posts"
  • Sources are listed on a separate page - marked by a tab at the top of the page
  • Enjoy!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Life for Women in the 19th Century

[Woman in kitchen]

  1. What is this woman doing in the photograph?  Where is she?
  2. What time period is this from? 
  3. How do you know?
  4. Is this typical of women for the time period?
  5. Look at the light in the picture.  Why do you think the photographer chose to take the photograph using this light source?
  6. What does the light say about the photographer's thoughts on his subject?

Women's Clubs

Woman's Club, Minnesota Territorial Pioneers.

Photograph dated 5/11/1911

  1. Who is in this photograph?
  2. What do you know about women of the time period?
  3. Examine the women's clothing.  What does the clothing say about the women?  What is their socioeconomic class?
  4. How common were photographs in this era?
  5. What does the photograph say about the significance of this club to these women?
  6. How are these women different from the woman in the first photograph?  How are they the same?

Women at Work in the Clubs

Women seated in the parlor of the Pillsbury Home, 819 Second Avenue South, Minneapolis

Women seated in the parlor of the Pillsbury Home, 819 Second Avenue South, Minneapolis
Photographer: Lee Brothers
Photograph Collection ca. 1915



  1. What are these women doing?
  2. Look at their surroundings - what does it say about the women?
  3. This is a professional photograph.  Why do you think the photographer posed them in this way?
  4. Which woman is the central focus?  How do you know?
  5. What happened in the late 19th century to allow these women the time and access to converse in this way? 
  6. Is the photographer emphasizing a different lifestyle from the photographer in the first photograph?

Woman telling story to group of children at Margaret Barry House, Minneapolis.


Woman telling story to group of children at Margaret Barry Settlement House, Minneapolis.
Photographer: Lee Brothers
Photograph Collection ca. 1925

  1. What is this woman doing?
  2. Who are these children?  How do you know?
  3. What does this photograph tell you about the work women's clubs performed?
  4. Look up Jane Addams and Settlement House.  Would these reforms have happened without women?
  5. When did women gain the right to vote according to the consitution?
  6. Were women doing important work before they had the right to vote?

Women's Clubs Buildings


The Women's Club of Fort Worth, Texas





  1. These are two of the many women's clubs buildings around the United States.  Write a brief description of each. 
  2. Describe what they have in common.
  3. How are they different?
  4. Describe the women you think might belong to this club.
  5. Do these buildings make a statement about the members of this club? 
  6. What kind of statement do they make?

Women's Christian Temperance Union - A Powerful Club



  1. Look at the date of the document.  To whom is it addressed?
  2. What is the letter celebrating?
  3. Do women in this time period have this privilege elsewhere in the United States?
  4. Look up the word "temperance" - what does it mean?
  5. What is a union?
  6. Why would the Women's Christian Temperance Union be interested in Washington voters?

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Characteristics of Women's Clubs



1940 - photoraph of Women's Club Meeting - Tulare Farm Worker's Community

  1. Describe the women in this photograph.
  2. Describe the meeting house surroundings. 
  3. How do they compare with the other club meeting locales you have examined?
  4. Look at the caption.  Where are these women living?
  5. This photograph is about 20-30 years later than many of the others you have examined.  What has changed in the United States? (hint:  look at the date in the caption)
  6. Based on what you have learned, how have women's clubs changed?

Negative Press




Caricature: Women's Club Meeting (1848) "In the women's club – we demand that skirts be abolished and that men take over the housework."

  1. Who is depicted in this photograph?
  2. What did the artist think about women's clubs?
  3. What did the artist think about the women in clubs?
  4. What does the cartoonist mean by the caption?
  5. Does the idea expressed in the caption seem old-fashioned to you?  Why?
  6. Do you think this opinion was common among men of the time?

Women Trying New Things

YMCA Outing Club

YMCA Outing Club, Tacoma, WA YMCA, 1926

  1. Describe the women in the picture.
  2. What do they have with them?
  3. How old do you think they are?
  4. What are they doing?  Where do you think they are going?
  5. How does this photograph compare to the woman in the kitchen?
  6. How has the role of women changed?
  7. What does this photograph say about the expanding role of women?

Women's Clubs Speak Out

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Tacoma, Washington, 1894
  1. What is this document?
  2. For whom are they advocating equal rights?
  3. What other document does this document remind you of?
  4. Are you surprised at the early date of this document?
  5. Do women have a voice in politics at this time, even indirectly?
  6. How might women of this time period influence politics?

Structure of Clubs

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  1. What is this document?
  2. What is the significance of the fact that this is a colored women's club?  What does that mean?
  3. Describe the structure of the club's meetings.
  4. What does this structure say about the formality or informality of women's clubs?
  5. What government structure does this remind you of?
  6. Why would women's clubs have used this formal type of structure?

Structure of Clubs

































Incorporating document for Aftermath Club, 1904

  1. What is an incorporating agreement?
  2. What is the stated purpose of the club?
  3. Why would a club need an incorporating agreement?
  4. What does this say about the serious nature of women's clubs?

New Topics, New Ideas

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What











By 1929, women have gained the right to vote.

  1. What is this document?
  2. When was it written?
  3. What are some of the activities highlighted by this club?
  4. What new service is this club offering?
  5. How does this represent another shift in women's clubs? 
  6. How does offering educational opportunities help women's rights?

Women's Clubs - New Ideas, New Debates

Aloha Club to Have a Debate





















































  1. What year is this article published?
  2. The author notes that women's suffrage will be submitted to the people of Washington state in 1910.  How much longer before the federal government gives the vote to women?
  3. Can you tell if the author is for or against suffrage for women?  How?
  4. Why is it significant that a women's club is debating this issue?
  5. Were all women in favor of women's suffrage?
  6. Why would some women oppose having the right to vote?

Women's Club Members Stir the Pot!

Better Mothers When Women Vote, She Says



































  1. Who is Mrs. George A. Smith? 
  2. What organization does she represent?
  3. What is Mrs. Smith's main argument for women's suffrage?
  4. Who is Mrs. H.P. Fish?
  5. What organization does she represent?
  6. What is the significance of these organizations coming together?



  1. Not all women were in favor of votes for women.  Summarize the reasons given by certain women in New Jersey.
  2. In your opinion, are these reasons valid? 
  3. Why or why not?
  4. Do you consider voting a duty or a privilege?
  5. What, in your opinion, are the duties of women? 
  6. Of men?



  1. What is happening in this political cartoon?
  2. What is a suffragist?
  3. Describe the characteristics of the women in the cartoon.
  4. What does the cartoonist mean by "only a MERE man"?
  5. What does this suggest about the popular opinion or sterotypes of suffragist?
  6. How does this portrayal of women contrast with the portrayal of women in the above flyer?



  1. What is this cartoon depicting?
  2. Who are the Anti-Suffragists?
  3. "Queen of the Home" sounds like a lofty title.  Is it?
  4. What do they mean by "Queen of a Cook-Stove Throne"?
  5. How does this cartoon relate to the "reasons" from New Jersey, above?
  6. Does this cartoonist support the suffragists or anti-suffragists?  Why do you think so?

Effects of the Women's Club Movement

What

Club Women Will Vote on Conservation
Add caption
 
































  1. What is the date of this article?
  2. Do women have the right to vote nationally?
  3. What are they voting for/against?
  4. What is the significance of this vote?
  5. Were club women influential before they had the right to vote?
  6. In your opinion, were they effective in influencing national or state policy?



[Suffragists in Seattle]

September, 1910

  1. What are these clubwomen doing?
  2. How did the structure of women's clubs influence women's desires for a voice in government?
  3. What are some of the causes clubwomen fought for? 
  4. What are some of the charitable organizations they supported?
  5. Did the ability to organize into clubs help women become a political force?
  6. How are the women in this photograph working to get their voices heard?