History 3900

Women in American History

Instructor: Dr. Lynne Curry Office: 216H Coleman Hall Office Hours: MWF 11:00 am- noon W 3:00-4:00 pm and by appointment e-mail: cflc2@eiu.edu Phone: 581-7988/3310 Tutors: Schedule to be announced

Content: This course surveys the history of women in America from precolonial times to the present. We will combine lectures, class discussions, and videos with readings from the course texts and on library reserve. An additional goal of this course is to introduce students to the historiography of American women's and gender history.
 

Course texts: This course is reading-intensive. To aid your own understanding and to enhance our class discussions, complete reading assignments before coming to class. Required texts are:
 

1. From textbook rental: Norton and Alexander, eds., Major Problems in American Women's History (second edition); Woloch, Women and the American Experience ((second edition); Nella Larsen, Quicksand and Passing.
 

2. At the library: A number of readings have been placed on reserve at Booth Library. See course agenda for assignments.
 

3. Book review: In addition to the works cited above, you will read one additional book of your choosing for an extended book review. See the syllabus for further instructions.
 

Attendance: Regular attendance and active class participation are mandatory. You are responsible for information and material covered in your absence.
 

Examinations: There are two examinations in this course, a mid-term and a final. Examinations are in essay format. The final is not comprehensive.
 

Papers: Two papers are required. See the syllabus for further instructions.
 

Note: If you have a documented disability and wish to receive academic accommodations, please contact the Office of Disability Services.
 

Grading: Mid-term = 30% Paper #1 = 10%

Final = 30% Paper #2 = 30%
 
 

Course Schedule and Reading Assignments

N = Norton & Alexander W = Woloch

08/23 Introductions

08/25 Defining women's history. Read: N chapter 1

08/27 Native American women. Read: N chapter 2
 

08/30 Women in the Chesapeake. Read: W chapter 2

09/01 Puritan women. Read: W chapter 2

09/03 Mary Rowlandson's story. Read: Rowlandson narrative on reserve
 

09/06 Labor Day. No class.

09/08 Unruly Puritans: Anne Hutchinson. Read: N chapter 3

09/10 Unruly Puritans: The Salem witch trials
 

09/13 Women and revolution. Read: N chapter 4

09/15 Gender and revolution. Read: W chapters 3 & 4

(Begin A Midwife's Tale)

09/17 A Midwife's Tale.
 

09/20 Women and slavery. Read: N chapter 6

09/22 The Cult of Domesticity. Read: N chapter 5; W chapter 5

09/24 Defining women's sphere. Read: W chapter 6
 

09/27 Benevolence and reform. Read: W chapter 8

09/29 Politicizing women's sphere. Read: N chapter 7

10/01 Alternatives. Read: W chapter 7
 

10/04 Women and the Civil War. Read: Faust article on reserve

10/06 Victorian women and health. Read: N chapter 9

10/08 Mid-term examination. Last day for book review selections.
 

10/11 Women on the frontier. Read: N chapter 8

10/13 Women at work I. Read: W chapters 9 & 10

10/15 Fall break. No class.
 

10/18 Women at work II. Read: N chapter 11

10/20 The New Woman. Read: W chapters 11 & 12

10/22 Votes for women. Read: N chapter 10; W chapters 13 & 14
 

10/25 The 1920s: Gains and losses. Read: N chapter 12

10/27 Modernizing the rural mother. Read: Curry on reserve

10/29 Flappers, vamps, and Valentino. Read: W chapters 15 & 16
 

11/01 Women and the Harlem Renaissance. Read: Larsen

11/03 Nella Larsen's Quicksand and Passing.. Read: Larsen

Paper #1 due in class today.

11/05 Humanizing the New Deal. Read: W chapters 17 & 18
 

11/08 Women and war. Read: N chapter 13

11/10 The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter

11/12 Rosie, continued
 

11/15 Women in postwar America: Work and family. Read: N chapter 14

11/17 Women in postwar America: Ideals

11/19 The Feminine Mystique. Read: Friedan on reserve
 

11/22-26 Thanksgiving recess
 

11/29 Liberal feminism. Read: N chapter 15

Last day to turn in Paper #2 (in class)

12/01 Radical feminism. Read: W chapters 16 & 17

12/03 Do the Shirelles matter? Read: Douglas on reserve
 

12/06 Defining "equality"; Read: W chapters 21 & 22

12/08 Roe v. Wade. Read; N chapter 16

12/10 Where do we go from here?
 

Final on Tuesday, December 16^th, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
 

Instructions for Papers

Requirements for Papers #1 and #2: Must be typed and double-spaced. Turabian style is preferred, but others (e.g., APA, MLA) are acceptable.
 

Paper #1: Reaction Paper on Nella Larsen's Quicksand and Passing. This paper is due in class on Wednesday, November 3^rd. It will be based on the two short novels assigned in this course. No outside research for this assignment is necessary, but you will be required to integrate the novels with historical evidence from our course texts. Questions to guide your analysis will be handed out in class.
 

Paper #2: Book Review. You may turn in this paper any time, but no later than in class on Monday, November 29^th. Choose a book from the list below. Inform me of your selection in writing, either via e-mail or on a sheet turned in to me in class no later than Friday, October 8^th

Note: My prior approval is required to select a book not on the list. Your review must do the following: (1) Present and analyze the author's main thesis. Do not simply repeat the narrative of events. What argument is the author making about women in American history?

(2) Evaluate the author's evidence. What sources does she or he use? Do you see potential problems with these sources? What other sources might have been utilized? (3) Compare and contrast the author's thesis with ideas raised in our course readings. Is the author in agreement or disagreement with our readings? Note: You must refer to specific text readings.
 

Colonial and Antebellum Life

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Good Wives (1982). Puritan women.

John Demos. The Unredeemed Captive (1994). A captive's story.

Mary Beth Norton, Founding Mothers and Fathers (1997). Early American society.

Linda Kerber, Women of the Republic (1980). Revolutionary thought.

Nancy Hewitt, Women's Activism and Social Change (1984). Social reform.

Sylvia Hoffert, Private Matters (1989). Childbirth and infant care.

Suzanne Lebsock, The Free Women of Petersburg (1984). Antebellum South.

Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Within the Plantation Household. Antebellum South.

Drew Gilpin Faust, Mothers of Invention (1995). Gender and the Civil War.

George Rable, Civil Wars (1991). Women and southern nationalism.

Ann Douglas, The Feminization of American Culture (1988). Intellectual life.

Frances Cogan, All-American Girl (1989). 19^th century ideals of femininity.

Elliot J. Gorn, The Manly Art (1986). 19^th century ideals of masculinity.
 

Work

Lynn Weiner, From Working Girl to Working Mother (1985). Working women.

Alice Kessler-Harris, Out to Work (1982). Wage-earning women.

David Katzman, Seven Days a Week (1981). Domestic servants.

Ruth S. Cowan, More Work for Mother (1983). Household technologies.

Laura Shapiro, Perfection Salad (1986). Women and cooking.
 
 
 

Work, continued

Suellen Hoy, Chasing Dirt (1995). Women and cleanliness.

Jacqueline Jones, Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow. African-American women.
 

Ethnicity

Donna Gabaccia. From the Other Side (1994). European immigrants.

Vicki Ruiz. Cannery Women, Cannery Lives (1987). Hispanic women.

Hasia Diner, Erin's Daughters in America (1986). Irish immigrants.

Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Issei, Nissei, War Bride (1986). Japanese immigrants.

Susan A. Glenn, Daughters of the Shtetl (1990). Jewish immigrants.
 

Social welfare and reform

Linda Gordon, Heroes of Their Own Lives (1988). Domestic violence.

Linda Gordon, Pitied But Not Entitled (1994). Single mothers.

Robin Muncy, Creating a Female Dominion in American Reform (1991). Progressives.

Molly Ladd-Taylor, Mother-Work (1994). Child welfare.

J. Stanley Lemons, The Woman Citizen (1973). Women and politics after the vote.

Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, Black Neighbors (1993). Race and reform.

Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie (1992). Unmarried pregnancy and adoption.
 

Health

Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in White (1989). Black nurses.

Judith Walzer Leavitt, Brought to Bed (1986). Childbirth practices.

Joan J. Brumberg, Fasting Girls (1988). Anorexia nervosa.

Joan J. Brumberg, The Body Project (1997). Adolescent sexuality and health.

Linda Gordon, Woman's Body, Woman's Right (1976). Birth control.

Leslie Reagan, When Abortion was a Crime (1997). Abortion and law.

Margaret Marsh and Wanda Ronner, The Empty Cradle (1996). Infertility.
 

Frontier and rural

Nancy Grey Osterud, The Bonds of Community (1991). Rural New York.

Elizabeth Hampsten, Read This Only to Yourself (1982). Midwestern frontier.

Katherine Jellison, Entitled to Power (1993). Farm women and technology.

Kathleen Blee, Women of the Klan (1991). Gender and racism.

Devon A. Mihesuah, Cultivating the Rosebuds (1993). Cherokee missions.

Anne M. Butler, Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Sorrow (1985). Prostitutes.

Mary Neth, Preserving the Family Farm (1995). Agricultural change in early 20^th century
 

Politics

Alice Echols, Daring to Be Bad (1989). Radical feminism.

Sara Evans, Personal Politics (1979). Modern feminism.

Patricia Collins, Black Feminist Thought (1990). Modern feminism.

John D'Emilio, Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities (1983). Gay rights.

Susan Faludi, Backlash (1992). Antifeminism.

E. Fox-Genovese, Feminism Without Illusions (1994). Rethinking feminism.