Women's history

Red Scare, 1919-21
The United States Government cracked down on anyone who they suspected was tied to the communist party
The groups most affected were:
Labor rights activists
immigrants
Women with careers
lesbians
The KKK saw a resurgence and targeted catholics and jews as well as African Americans
Any women who did not conform to the expectations of a 'true woman' was a target during this time

Sheppard-Towner Act, 1921
Granted federal money for prenatal and maternal education and health care for babies
upset the medical community
People were angry and claimed that this was socialism
Funding was cut by 1929

Child Labor Amendment, 1924
Proposed amendment gave federal government authority to regulate workers under the age of 18
Was not ratified by the necessary amount of states to become an amendment

Domestication of Politics
Political culture becomes 'feminized'
Less focus on voting and more focus on interest group politics
Women felt like they could get more done by lobbying (holding an office position) than voting
PTA emerged from this idea
Government also began to take on some of the social/moral responsibility that had previously been in the home

Equality/Difference Paradox
Came from Nancy Cott's Paradox of Modern Feminism
Feminism has double aims
Tries to guarantee women's rights as individuals
Recognizes woman's unique needs and differences
The goal of being seen as individuals vs. a separate group is a struggle that feminists still struggle with to this day
suffrage movement kept the paradox at bay because women were united over a single cause

ERA: Equal Rights Amendment, 1923
Alice Paul original author
Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction- equal terms on all regards, even if giving up some benefits
written after 19th amendment passed was not enough to end discrimination based on sex
raised the issue of if women always need to be treated the same as men
Two groups: National Women's Party for ERA (8,000 members/feminists), League of Women's voters, WTCU, ect against (20,000 members)

League of Women Voters, 1920
founded by Carrie Chapman Catt
formed in 1920; emphasized lobbying, voter education , get-out-the-vote drives in the overall mission to train women to be good citizens
new responsibility as voters

Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938
provided for maximum hours and minimum wages for all workers involved in interstate commerce. Hence, it achieved some of the protections for women and men that the advocates of protective labor laws for women had long been advocating for (see Woloch book)
time and a half for overtime
prohibit employment of minors
established a minimum wage

Flapper
shocking but not threatening; sexually available to men; rejection of motherhood;
took ideas from other groups of women in working class and moved them to mainstream middle class white women
conservatives wrote about flappers as a threat to the public morality;flappers were critical of feminists
NWP is dismayed by the flappers - want rights to education, birth control, suffrage but not the radical lifestyle like earlier generations
roots in working class culture, black culture, and bohemian culture, brought it to the mainstream
did not really have the possibility to affect change

Medicalization of Birth Control
reinforces marital sexuality (emphasis on married women) - can better family life (can decide when and how many children then have - 'spacing out' children);
less emphasis on poor women who can't afford to go to the doctor -> becomes more conservative because it is being used by middle class married women (The Pill documentary)

Paula Baker
Effects on American Political Culture, says winning of women's suffrage marks the end of distinct women's political culture that had predominated in the 19th century, where voting was at the center of male politics, and women had a voluntary association through maternalist politics to get from the private to the public sphere, once women got the vote they were not longer united on that common ground; ideological differences took center

Nancy Cott
Paradox of Modern Feminism, said women's social reform did not disappear in 1920s, now women did not join groups on the basis of gender but because of differences in ideology, feminism did not disappear but paradox of modern feminism became prevalent

Women's Committee Against the High Cost of Living (Detroit)
politicizes women's roles a consumers during the depression;
joined with the labor movement; food boycotts, anti-eviction demonstrations, lobbied federal government to regulate prices
wanted a more just/fair economy

Youngs case (1930)
case regarding trademark infringement; if the birth control device had other lawful purposes besides contraception it could be legally advertised, sold, distributed; birth control sold over the counter as feminine hygiene products (Lysol?)
created an entirely unregulated birth control industry

One Package decision (1936)
US federal court of appeals overturns the Comstock Act and birth control can be disseminated by doctors in all states for medical purposes

Women's New Deal: 1933-36
When FDR passes New Deal, women activists have significant opportunity to influence national public policy
FDR admin created a network of almost 30 women in DC to collaborate on a female focused social reform agenda (mainly broad-based social reform, rather than specifically feminism)
Emerges from women's long devotion to public good: includes many things women had been fighting for
1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (min wage/max hours): federal abolition of child labor and welfare provisions for women
Women obtained a prominent place in New Deal based on practical politics and the idea that female voters can help the Democratic party and the New Deal agenda

Eleanor Roosevelt
born in 1884 to a prominent family
Stance based on progressive reform initiatives
1st lady (FDR is distant cousin): serves as important link between government and the people suffering and tries very hard to push FDR to the left
Very sympathetic toward the US (letters: 'Dear Mrs. Roosevelt')
Outspoken advocate for women and increases presence of reform network in the government
Notices the growing presence of women in important jobs, but realizes they lack recognition and that the government is still the male realm

Mary McLeod Bethune
An African American woman who served as president of NACW(national association of colored women) and established the National Association of Negro Women in 1935.
Served as a New Deal advisor to the National Youth Administration and later became the director of the Division of Minority Affairs/Negro Affairs; 'The First Lady of the Struggle' → bettering African Americans
Tried to expand black leadership in the NYA and pressure the FDR admin to provide equal opportunities in New Deal programs
teacher in florida

Molly Dewson
feminist and political advicist
previously involved in the NYCL and later became head of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee in 1932.
Played crucial role in bringing out female vote for FDR in his first election and was rewarded by getting women appointed to positions in the Democratic party and other government positions; for women's voting and new deal among women
Made significant lobbying efforts on behalf of Frances Perkins and Ellen Woodward
Formed 'Reporter Plan' to maintain support for New Deal among women and called for each county to appoint women for the 'Reporters of the Federal Agency' to educate about agency activities

Frances Perkins
becomes the first woman cabinet member and secretary of labor 1933-45
Her department was a force behind New Deal legislation that secured the rights of organized labor, development of Social Security, and FLSA
helped fdr with labor movement

Victory gardens
way of rationing food during WWII; women were encouraged to produce food from gardens in order to lower the price of vegetables with which the US War Department fed the troops; women's magazines featured instructions on how to grow food in the garden; post-war the gardens stop, causing a temporary fruit/vegetable shortage

USO: United Service Organizations
home away from home, a way to come together and support the troops, entertainment
founded in 1941 after FDR requested an organization to provide morale and recreation services to U.S. uniformed military personnel
Camp Shows: the USO organized shows for soldiers abroad, celebrities performed to lift the spirits of soldier
USO centers throughout the world recruited female volunteers to serve doughnuts, dance, and talk with the troops
African American women scrambled to rally the community around the soldiers and create programs for them
women as entertainers were very important to USO's mission
soldiers tended to see these women as reminders of and even substitutes for their girls back home, as a reward for fighting the war, as embodiments of what they were fighting for

Rosie the Riveter
In Ads:
strong, muscular
red/white/blue wear
riveter gun
standing on Mein Kampf
In Life:
Rosies worked for many different reasons: to earn $$, for consumption reason, due to being widowed, for self esteem/personal achievement, and some had always been working
faced sex segregation (if a man could be hired, he was hired first)
women faced resentment, discrimination, sexual harassment, and belittlement
loophole in 'equal pay for equal work'--> did work that men wouldn't do
African American women faced race and gender obstacles, but also preferred factory work as opposed to domestic work because it had a tangible product for a cause
sociability/comradery/solidarity among the Rosies
Social Security benefits
struggled with how to handle their children while working
expected to work during the war, give jobs back to soldiers after the war was over

National War Labor Board 1942
re-established by FDR in 1942 to handle labor and wage settlements so that they wouldn't take away from the war effort
urged employers in 1942 to voluntarily make adjustments which equalize wage or salary rates paid to females with the rates paid to males for comparable quality and quantity of work on the same or similar operations.
this voluntary option was rarely put into place
loopholes were often created to where it could be considered that equal wage when the men came home and took the jobs, but the women were not paid that equal wage during the war

Lanham Act (1943)
gov funded child care facilities
often in remote locations, negative social stigma involved with day care
not well publicized
act that opened up opportunities for some childcare for women working-- however, only 10% of women made use of it, largely due to transportation issues (the facilities were few and far between), and because daycare was largely associated with poverty

executive order 66
Feb 1942, removes all people of Japanese descent on West Coast to internment camps, because imposed threats to national security; US challenged by other countries because of Hitler's internment camps, wanted to prove we were different

The ideology of the feminine mystique
the dominant set of cultural expectations for womanhood and femininity in the postwar period
1950's: age of anxiety, trying to contain communism, believed being in a nuclear family made it so that they were fighting communism from the home
distrust of differences, especially in women (career women)

The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan, 1963
Book written that addressed the depression that many (usually middle class, white) women felt.
Friedan encouraged these women to make a life plan, which included taking a few classes or volunteering so that they could have a greater purpose but it would still be compatible with family duties.

momism
came from Phillip Wyley's book Generation of Vipers (1942)
animosity against white middle class stay at home mothers.
The idea was that mothers were damaging their kids by being too coddling, too permissive, and too indulgent.
Mothers were thought to be 'sissifying' boys and then boys would not be ready to go to war or fight communism
created a double bind bc mothers cannot simply neglect their children, but also cannot be too present or overbearing

'the problem that has no name'
women were confused and distraught in the 50s because they were unhappy with their lives, but since no one was complaining, all the women thought the problem had to do with themselves, not society.

United Packinghouse Workers of America
working class women got involved in the meatpacking industry union-- labor union; fought for equal pay for equal work and to enhance women's workforce experience by getting men to contribute in the home if women contribute out of it.
goal: to end women and men wage differences, 2nd: discrimination against pregnant women

Women Strike for Peace
began on Nov. 1, 1961; 50,000 women went on strike for peace because they were concerned about a nuclear war. It was the largest peace action by women up to this point. The strike drew on maternalist politics and their roles as mothers to advocate for public change and their own political role.
height of cold war, against nuclear weapons

HUAC 1938
House Un-American Activities Committee, in House of Representatives, in charge of investigating disloyal people suspected of communism, suspicious of women who went on strike for peace

Federal Civil Defense Administration: 1950
soviet union had acquired an atomic bomb, organized by president harry s. truman, attempted to put forth nationwide protection of fallout shelters (protection from radioactive debris), goals of protecting the home from nuclear attack, dependent on mass participation, created an opening for women (had a role to play), attack drills, bomb shelters were stocked and kept neat, needed to be domestic, nation's safety relied on it

E. Franklin Frazier, The Negro Family in the United States, 1939
the african american structure of family was rooted from slavery, women were the head of household, when slaves the fathers were sold away from family, the kids condition followed that of the mothers, african american men became irrelevant to family life, women had too much power

Daniel Patrick Moynihan, The Negro Family: The Case for National Action, 1965
problem lay within the community, needed to come together for equality, long history of participation in activism: civil rights, abolition, make up church communities

Bridge Leaders
ex: ella baker: wanted to bring social change by mobilizing grassroots resistance; organizing and inspiring local communities
pg. 620 of text book, not in leadership formally, african american women were the grassroots, bridge the formal leadership to people of lower status in community, but also bottom up (expressed concerns), women worked day to day to keep movement going, 'liberal phrase'

SCLC, 1957
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
african american ministers, activists, christian leadership, grassroots from church, non violent protest, MLK: civil disobedience because perceived law as unjust, disobey and accept consequences, young generation

SNCC, 1960
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Founded by Ella Baker - emerged from mass protest, gave women greatest opportunity to participate and influence the civil rights movement
Strong leaders not necessary for strong movement - nonhierarchical organization (rotating officers)
sit ins, freedom rides, mississippi freedom summer, eventually black powe

Brown v. Board of Education, 1954
Usual Beginning Date for the movement against segregation
separate schools for whites and blacks was unconstitutional- made way for integration, helped civil rights movement
Brought forth by the NAACP for Linda Brown (black elementary student) and others
Overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision (segregation, separate but equal), finding segregated schools unequal and violated the 14th Amendment
students helped to implement - Little Rock Nine, abused by other students

Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955
Sparked by Rosa Parks (who refused to give up her seat to a white person), this 381 day long protest led to the Supreme Court ruling against segregation on public buses to be unconstitutional
mlk jr participated

Rosa Parks
Known today as the 'mother of the civil rights movement,' refused to give up her bus seat to a white person which sparked the Montgomery bus boycott which lasted 381 days. The U.S. Supreme Court soon after decided to outlaw segregation on city buses

Jo Ann Robinson and the Women's Political Caucus, 1946
WPC consisted mostly of black professional women with a focus on challenging disenfranchisement and segregation in Montgomery
Separate of NAACP
President Jo Ann Robinson used her network connections distribute fliers announcing a protest for Rosa Parks's arrest
WPC in opposition to MIA led by Dr. MLK and their mostly male leadership
started Montgomery bus boycott

Participatory Democracy
Embraces ideas of decentralization of authoritative power and involvement of non-elites or amateurs in government
Argue that citizens' participation in political process will lead to decisions that are more beneficial to non-elites involved
major tenement of Students for Democratic Society (SDS)

Freedom Rides, 1961
Student activists that challenged segregation on interstate buses and bus terminals in the south.
Traveling on buses from Washington to New Orleans, the riders met violent opposition in Birmingham, Alabama, which attracted lots of media attention, and eventually forced the federal government to intervene.
Even though they didn't make it to New Orleans, the riders ultimately succeeded in integrating interstate bus travel.

Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964
In the spring of 1964, COFO (Council of Federated Organizations) devised this plan to import 1,000 volunteers from outside the South (mostly white students) to register black voters in the Deep South.
It was meant to infuse new energy into the voter registration drive AND to use white students to focus media and federal attention on southern resistance.
1st volunteers arrived in June 1964, and were trained in nonviolent resistance and warned about the dangers involved.
Violence overshadowed Freedom Summer → 4 volunteers killed, 80 beaten, and over 1,000 arrested. 37 churches were bombed and burned.
Recruitment of white northern students created tension within the movement. Highly educated whites had to be reminded they had come to help, not take charge.
Presence of white women raised certain issues.
During Freedom Summer, the number of white women involved in the civil rights movement increased dramatically. (Women made up for ? - ½ of the volunteers)
Closeness or intimacy between black men and white women triggered white racists' anger. Black women often resented them, contributing to racial divisions in the early years of the women's liberation movement.
Climax of Freedom Summer (and southern voter registration efforts) was the challenge to the all-white Mississippi Democratic Party.
Mississippi blacks organized a delegation of the newly formed Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) to attend the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City.
Here they demanded that they replace the all white state group as the official Mississippi delegation. MFDP rejected this proposal, claiming that it was a compromise that didn't address the legality of Mississippi's organized denial of blacks' access to the political process.

Fannie Lou Hamer
american voting rights and civil rights activist, Mississippi freedom summer, biblical
Most famous local leader from Sunflower County, Mississippi. She provided shelter, moral support, and valuable personal contacts, to activists, often times at her own personal risk.
Worked on a cotton plantation, where she exhibited natural leadership capacities that eventually elevated her to a position as a kind of forewoman for her boss and an influential person in the local black community.
Her desire to make blacks full citizens motivated her to join SNCC, and a year later, in 1963, she registered to vote.
Became organizer and spokeswoman for the Mississippi voter registration effort.
She was an exemplar of the rural black southern women who were vital to the southern civil rights movement.
Suffered both physically and emotionally from the aftermath of a brutal beating she received as punishment for her commitment to the civil rights movement.
Testified before the Democratic National Convention's rules committee about the violence and beatings she suffered in order to register to vote.

Civil Rights Act, 1964
Outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This act integrated schools and public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal.
President Lyndon Johnson pushed this act through as homage to the assassinated John F. Kennedy.
Its significance to women's history:
While congress was debating the legislation, members of the National Women's Party encouraged US Representative Howard Smith (supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment- ERA) to propose an amendment to the bill that would extend federal civil rights protection to women.

Voting Rights Act, 1965
Prohibited discrimination in voting by the federal, state and local governments.
Outlawed discriminatory practices, such as literacy tests, that were used to keep blacks out of southern Democratic parties.
Authorized the US attorney general to intervene in countries where less than 50% of the black voting-age population was registered.

Liberal Feminism
Liberal feminists pushed a moderate reformist agenda that sought to use legal and political means to ensure women's full integration into mainstream American society.
NOW (National Organization for Women) represented liberal feminism.
Demographically primarily middle aged professional women, also included other races

President's Commission on the Status of Women, 1961 (rpt issued in 1963)
began in 1961 when Esther Peterson went to JFK to ask for the creation of a commision
aim to help women in the workforce, viewed as substitute for ERA
was the 1st federal body devoted to women
focused on equal opportunity, eradication of legal discrimination, equal pay for equal work, but also continuing women's roles as wives and mothers while fulfilling maximum potential

Equal Pay Act, 1963
amendment to Fair Labor Standards Act
prohibited wage disparity based on sex when men and women perform work involving similar skill sets, efforts and job responsibility.

Civil Rights Act (Title VII), 1964
Act - no discrimination in publically funded or public placces
VII - specifically to employers with 15 or more employees per day
no discrimination, no discrimination for their relationships (interracial marriage)

EEOC
Equal Employment Opportunity Commision
no workplace discrimination of any type
created to force compliance with Civil Rights Act
focused on cases of racial discrimination

NOW
National Organization for Women
goal related to Liberal Feminism in that it wanted to bring American women into full participation in mainstream society
'reform not revolution' emphasized politics and law, fashioned after NAACP
made an argument for women's rights based on equality argument, focusing on men and women's sameness and common humanity

Radical Feminism/Women's Liberation
developed 1967-68
pursued a revolutionary agenda that aimed to fundamentally transform American social relations, institutions, and thinking
Comprised mainly of young, college aged women already associated with radical political movements

Black Power
Thrived in northern cities
sought to consolidate a sense of peoplehood among African Americans
Major influence: Malcolm X
1966: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) became a black power organization→ voted to expel its white members and embracing goal of black self-determination
'Black men were to lead and defend their people; black women were to give birth to and nurture them' (pg 680)
Black Power's emphasis on self determination instead of integration, on the group rather than the individual
provided the model for the emerging Women's Liberation Movement

SDS: Students for a Democratic Society
Formed in 1962 by 40 college students meeting at Port Hurton, Michigan
protested against America's hypocritical claim to be the bastion of democracy
Declared themselves as the 'New Left'; impatient with the outdated, class-based politics of the previous generation of left wing activists (Old Left)
tended strongly to reserve leadership roles for men
1967: women met separately from men in response to SDS men's hostility towards women's issues

'Sisterhood is Powerful'
1970
included selections from African American, Latina/Chicana, and Asian American women to substantiate the claim that sisterhood was all inclusive
talked about individual rights and sameness with men
discussed the need for radical feminism, the discrimination women experienced from men in the political left, and the blatant sexism faced in the workplace.
Encouraged women to get involved on the Women's Liberation Movement

Miss America 1968
members of a guerrilla street group staged a protest at the Miss America pageant
crowned a live sheep
tossed symbols of women's oppression: curlers, bras and makeup into a 'freedom trash can'

Consciousness Raising
consisted of small groups of women (met weekly) sharing personal and private aspects of their lives in order to understand female subordination
accumulating their their experiences into collective truths could free women from the belief that their lives were abnormal or that they were to blame personally for their alienation from norms of femininity

'The Personal is Political'
came from the 1960's feminist movement, the idea that what happened in the home in women's personal lives was a political issue
popularized by the book Sisterhood is Powerful
included women's sexuality and sexual pleasure, access to childcare facilities, and the responsibility for all the house housework