Women and Patriotism in Jim Crow America

Women and Patriotism in Jim Crow America
Author: Francesca Morgan
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2006-05-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0807876933

After the Civil War, many Americans did not identify strongly with the concept of a united nation. Francesca Morgan finds the first stirrings of a sense of national patriotism--of "these United States--in the work of black and white clubwomen in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Morgan demonstrates that hundreds of thousands of women in groups such as the Woman's Relief Corps, the National Association of Colored Women, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Daughters of the American Revolution sought to produce patriotism on a massive scale in the absence of any national emergency. They created holidays like Confederate Memorial Day, placed American flags in classrooms, funded monuments and historic markers, and preserved old buildings and battlegrounds. Morgan argues that while clubwomen asserted women's importance in cultivating national identity and participating in public life, white groups and black groups did not have the same nation in mind and circumscribed their efforts within the racial boundaries of their time. Presenting a truly national history of these generally understudied groups, Morgan proves that before the government began to show signs of leadership in patriotic projects in the 1930s, women's organizations were the first articulators of American nationalism.

Small Change

Small Change
Author: Harriet Guest
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2000-12
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0226310523

During the second half of the eighteenth century, the social role of educated women and the nature of domesticity were the focus of widespread debate in Britain. The emergence of an identifiably feminist voice in that debate is the subject of Harriet Guest's new study, which explores how small changes in the meaning of patriotism and the relations between public and private categories permitted educated British women to imagine themselves as political subjects. Small Change considers the celebration of learned women as tokens of national progress in the context of a commercial culture that complicates notions of gender difference. Guest offers a fascinating account of the women of the bluestocking circle, focusing in particular on Elizabeth Carter, hailed as the paradigmatic learned and domestic woman. She discusses the importance of the American war to the changing relation between patriotism and gender in the 1770s and 1780s, and she casts new light on Mary Wollstonecraft's writing of the 1790s, considering it in relation to the anti-feminine discourse of Hannah More, and the utopian feminism of Mary Hays.

Women of the Republic

Women of the Republic
Author: Linda K. Kerber
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2000-11-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 0807899844

Women of the Republic views the American Revolution through women's eyes. Previous histories have rarely recognized that the battle for independence was also a woman's war. The "women of the army" toiled in army hospitals, kitchens, and laundries. Civilian women were spies, fund raisers, innkeepers, suppliers of food and clothing. Recruiters, whether patriot or tory, found men more willing to join the army when their wives and daughters could be counted on to keep the farms in operation and to resist enchroachment from squatters. "I have Don as much to Carrey on the warr as maney that Sett Now at the healm of government," wrote one impoverished woman, and she was right. Women of the Republic is the result of a seven-year search for women's diaries, letters, and legal records. Achieving a remarkable comprehensiveness, it describes women's participation in the war, evaluates changes in their education in the late eighteenth century, describes the novels and histories women read and wrote, and analyzes their status in law and society. The rhetoric of the Revolution, full of insistence on rights and freedom in opposition to dictatorial masters, posed questions about the position of women in marriage as well as in the polity, but few of the implications of this rhetoric were recognized. How much liberty and equality for women? How much pursuit of happiness? How much justice? When American political theory failed to define a program for the participation of women in the public arena, women themselves had to develop an ideology of female patriotism. They promoted the notion that women could guarantee the continuing health of the republic by nurturing public-spirited sons and husbands. This limited ideology of "Republican Motherhood" is a measure of the political and social conservatism of the Revolution. The subsequent history of women in America is the story of women's efforts to accomplish for themselves what the Revolution did not.

Paloma Wants to be Lady Freedom

Paloma Wants to be Lady Freedom
Author: Rachel Campos-Duffy
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2019-09-03
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1621579816

Today we spend so much time talking about diversity and what makes us different that we're forgetting to tell our children stories about what unites us as Americans. We have so many beautiful and important things in common—our history, our love of freedom, and our pursuit of the American Dream. Rachel Campos-Duffy is a mother of nine and contributor on the Fox News network where she gives her honest take on politics, culture, and parenting. Inspired by her immigrant mother's patriotism and the excitement of her own daughter's first visit to Washington, D.C., Rachel shares a story near and dear to her heart. It's a tale that takes the reader on a little girl's adventure inside the U.S. Capitol. While lost inside the magnificent building, Paloma becomes enchanted with the statue of Lady Freedom, learns about her immigrant father's dreams, and discovers her own courage and love for America." "Paloma's journey leaves her heart filled with love for family, freedom, and America—our home. It's my prayer that her story will do the same for your child or grandchild."—Rachel Campos-Duffy

The Navy's First Enlisted Women

The Navy's First Enlisted Women
Author: Regina T. Akers
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2019
Genre: World War, 1914-1918
ISBN: 9781943604357

History of the First Enlisted Women during World War I.

Lady Patriot

Lady Patriot
Author: Ted Lange
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2013-09-16
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1490713158

The inner sanctum of Confederate president Jefferson Davis has been breached. Information is leaking to the enemy. Who is the spy? No one is privy to this information except Jeffersons advisors, and they are beyond repute. Based on a true story, Lady Patriot reveals an intimate look into the prejudices and patriotism of three ladies who lived during the Civil War: Varina Davis, Elizabeth Van Lew, and Mary Bowser. Lady Patriot combines Langes signature comedy and drama as it peels away traditional stereotypes prevalent in the South during the Confederacy.

It's Up to the Women

It's Up to the Women
Author: Eleanor Roosevelt
Publisher: Bold Type Books
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2017-04-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1568585950

"Eleanor Roosevelt never wanted her husband to run for president. When he won, she . . . went on a national tour to crusade on behalf of women. She wrote a regular newspaper column. She became a champion of women's rights and of civil rights. And she decided to write a book." -- Jill Lepore, from the Introduction "Women, whether subtly or vociferously, have always been a tremendous power in the destiny of the world," Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in It's Up to the Women, her book of advice to women of all ages on every aspect of life. Written at the height of the Great Depression, she called on women particularly to do their part -- cutting costs where needed, spending reasonably, and taking personal responsibility for keeping the economy going. Whether it's the recommendation that working women take time for themselves in order to fully enjoy time spent with their families, recipes for cheap but wholesome home-cooked meals, or America's obligation to women as they take a leading role in the new social order, many of the opinions expressed here are as fresh as if they were written today.

Lady Liberty's Holiday

Lady Liberty's Holiday
Author: Jen Arena
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016-05-10
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0553520679

Hit the road and see America with the Statue of Liberty! The Statue of Liberty is feeling a little blue, despite being green. As much as she loves welcoming people to America, standing still for over a hundred years has left her with a stiff neck, aching arms, and a cramp in her leg. This lady could use a vacation! With some encouragement from her friend Moe the pigeon, Lady Liberty takes off to see the rest of America! She explores the sandy beaches of Cape Cod, the waving wheat fields of Kansas, the breathtaking grandeur of the Grand Canyon, and the cozy sunshine of the California coastline. But will Lady Liberty make it back to New York City for the Fourth of July? And will she even want to? "Lady Liberty's journey [is] lighthearted and fun."--Publishers Weekly "A fun and fabulous read for a Fourth of July storytime."--School Library Journal

The Hello Girls

The Hello Girls
Author: Elizabeth Cobbs
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2019-05-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0674237439

In 1918, the U.S. Army Signal Corps sent 223 women to France at General Pershing’s explicit request. They were masters of the latest technology: the telephone switchboard. While suffragettes picketed the White House and President Wilson struggled to persuade a segregationist Congress to give women of all races the vote, these courageous young women swore the army oath and settled into their new roles. Elizabeth Cobbs reveals the challenges they faced in a war zone where male soldiers wooed, mocked, and ultimately celebrated them. The army discharged the last Hello Girls in 1920, the year Congress ratified the Nineteenth Amendment. When they sailed home, they were unexpectedly dismissed without veterans’ benefits and began a sixty-year battle that a handful of survivors carried to triumph in 1979. “What an eye-opener! Cobbs unearths the original letters and diaries of these forgotten heroines and weaves them into a fascinating narrative with energy and zest.” —Cokie Roberts, author of Capital Dames “This engaging history crackles with admiration for the women who served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during the First World War, becoming the country’s first female soldiers.” —New Yorker “Utterly delightful... Cobbs very adroitly weaves the story of the Signal Corps into that larger story of American women fighting for the right to vote, but it’s the warm, fascinating job she does bringing her cast...to life that gives this book its memorable charisma... This terrific book pays them a long-warranted tribute.” —Christian Science Monitor “Cobbs is particularly good at spotlighting how closely the service of military women like the Hello Girls was tied to the success of the suffrage movement.” —NPR

Lady Editor

Lady Editor
Author: Melanie Kirkpatrick
Publisher: Encounter Books
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1641771798

For half a century Sarah Josepha Hale was the most influential woman in America. As editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, Hale was the leading cultural arbiter for the growing nation. Women (and many men) turned to her for advice on what to read, what to cook, how to behave, and—most important—what to think. Twenty years before the declaration of women’s rights in Seneca Falls, NY, Sarah Josepha Hale used her powerful pen to promote women’s right to an education, to work, and to manage their own money. There is hardly an aspect of nineteenth-century culture in which Hale did not figure prominently as a pathbreaker. She was one of the first editors to promote American authors writing on American themes. Her stamp of approval advanced the reputations of Edgar Allan Poe, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. She wrote the first antislavery novel, compiled the first women’s history book, and penned the most recognizable verse in the English language, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Americans’ favorite holiday—Thanksgiving—wouldn’t exist without Hale. Re-imagining the New England festival as a patriotic national holiday, she conducted a decades-long campaign to make it happen. Abraham Lincoln took up her suggestion in 1863 and proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving. Most of the women’s equity issues that Hale championed have been achieved, or nearly so. But women’s roles in the “domestic sphere” are arguably less valued today than in Hale’s era. Her beliefs about women’s obligations to family, moral leadership, and principal role in raising children continue to have relevance at a time when many American women think feminism has failed them. We could benefit from re-examining her arguments to honor women’s special roles and responsibilities. Lady Editor re-creates the life of a major nineteenth-century woman, whose career as a writer, editor, and early feminist encompassed ideas central to American history.