Milestones and Key Figures in Women’s History

1. Milestones and Key Figures in Women’s History

2. Life in Colonial America Anne Hutchinson Legal status of colonial women Lost property rights when they married No separate legal identity apart from their husbands Single women and widows did have legal right to own property Chesapeake Colonies Due to the scarcity of women, their status was elevated “widowarchy”

3. The Early Republic, 1789-1815 Abigail Adams Early proponent of women’s rights “remember the ladies” Cult of domesticity/republican motherhood Cult: the idealization of women in their roles as wives and mothers Rep: responsibility of women to raise children to be virtuous citizens Throughout history, women have supported the cult of domesticity (Catharine Beecher, Phyllis Schlafley)

4. Women in Antebellum America, 1815-1860 Lowell System 1820’s to 1830’s Irish immigrants began to replace them leading up to the Civil War Seneca Falls Convention Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott Called for suffrage, property rights, and educational opportunities “Declaration of Sentiments”

5. Women in Antebellum America, 1815-1860 Characteristics of Women’s Movement in the Antebellum Period Middle class women Broad-based platform Close links to temperance and abolition movements Strongest in Northeast and Midwest, not south Sarah Moore Grimke One of the first women to publicly support abolition and women’s suffrage Grimke quote: “I ask no favors for my sex. I surrender not our claim to equality. All I ask of our brethren is that they will take their feet off our necks.”

6. Reformers and Suffragettes, 1865-1920 Jane Addams Hull House Settlement house movement Centers of women’s activism and reform efforts for the urban poor Taught classes on cooking and dressmaking, published reports on deplorable housing conditions, literacy and language classes for immigrants, and day nurseries for working mothers The Fight for Suffrage Frontier west tended to promote equality Wyoming (1869) first state to grant women full right to vote 19th Amendment

7. Reformers and Suffragettes, 1865-1920 Women’s Christian Temperance Union Carrie Nation Moral responsibility to improve society Women and progressive reforms Dorothea Dix Ida B. Wells Barnett Women were actively involved in Progressive reforms associated with the passage of child labor laws at the state level and campaigns to limit working hours of women and children

8. Reformers and Suffragettes, 1865-1920 Women and the workplace Late 19th century, majority of workforce young and unmarried Most likely to work as domestic servants, garment workers, teachers, cigar makers Least likely to work as physicians and lawyers

9. Boom and Bust, 1920-1940 Flappers Symbolized new freedom for women by challenging traditional attitudes Women and the workforce % of single women in the labor force declined in the 1920’s Did not receive equal pay and continued to face discrimination Most married women did not seek work outside of the home

10. Boom and Bust, 1920-1940 Margaret Sanger Birth control for women Decline of the feminist movement 19th amendment, changing morals and manners symbolized by flappers, disagreements concerning goals, decline of Progressive Era Alice Paul ERA Eleanor Roosevelt Most active first lady in US history

11. Women and the Workplace, 1941-1960 World War II Widespread movement of women into factory work Married women “Rosie the Riveter” 1950’s Women were encouraged to give up their factory jobs and return home (cult of domesticity returns)

12. Modern Women’s Rights Movement Betty Friedan Feminine Mystique First president of NOW Organization founded to challenge sex discrimination in the workplace Feminism tended to be a middle-class movement Betty Friedan known for her criticism of traditional gender roles

13. Modern Women’s Rights Movement ERA Did not pass despite efforts throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s Phyllis Schlafly led a campaign to block ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (cult of domesticity) Female vice-presidential candidates Geraldine Ferraro Sarah Palin