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History of American Women - History 219
Clark University, Fall 2001
Professor Amy Richter
Course Description
Our understanding of the past is transformed when we consider it through women's experiences. This course, therefore, moves through the chronology of American history to examine the broad themes that have shaped women's lives in the United States from the colonial period to the present. While tracing larger trends and identifying common experiences, we will also pay close attention to the specific experiences of individual women in order to shed light on the differences and divisions among them. Throughout, we will investigate the ways in which notions of gender difference have changed over time and how a wide variety of women both created and responded to shifting and contested cultural, political, and social roles.
Requirements
There will be an in-class midterm requiring you to recognize and analyze excerpts from primary-source readings (20% of course grade), a 5-7 page essay asking you to consider critically a secondary-source reading (30% of course grade), and a take-home final exam in which you must use both primary and secondary sources to identify and explicate course themes (30% of course grade).
Class participation is a crucial part of this course (20% of course grade). To facilitate discussion, students are required to write at least four weekly reaction papers to course readings (graded on a pass/fail basis). Papers must be handed in at my office by 10:00am before scheduled Thursday discussion classes (designated on syllabus as "Discussion of Readings."). These one-page papers are not intended as summaries; they are exercises in critical thinking and an opportunity for students to digest and synthesize course material -- to formulate questions, suggest alternative interpretations, and shape our discussions. Although students must write four reaction papers to satisfy (pass) this requirement, additional papers are welcome and will count toward participation.
Readings
The readings for this course consist of documents written by people who experienced or witnessed the events they are describing and interpretations by historians writing in or near the present. Historians designate the former kind of writing a "primary source," and the latter a "secondary source." Each type of source offers insight into the past and can be used to analyze and critique the other.
Required Texts:
- Linda Kerber and Jane De Hart, Women's America: Refocusing the Past (5th edition)
- Nancy Cott, et al., Root of Bitterness: Documents of the Social History of American Women (2nd edition)
- Susan Ware, Modern American Women: A Documentary History (2nd edition)
Schedule of Class Meetings
| Week One |
| Thursday August 30: INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS WOMEN'S HISTORY? Readings: Women's America, Introduction Root of Bitterness, Introduction |
|
Week Two |
| Tuesday September 4: WOMEN'S ROLES IN COLONIAL AMERICA Readings: Women's America, Evans (begins p. 30), Ulrich |
| Thursday September 6: Discussion of Readings Women's America, Norton, Karlsen Root of Bitterness, Part I, pp. 3-46 |
| Week Three |
| Tuesday September 11: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, DEMOCRACY &
THE REPUBLICAN MOTHER Readings: Women's America, Kerber, Boydston Root of Bitterness, Part II, pp. 49-109 |
| Thursday September 13: SCREENING: A MIDWIFE'S TALE Readings: Women's America, Dayton, Mohr |
| Week Four |
| Tuesday September 18: THE CULT OF TRUE WOMANHOOD & WOMAN'S
EXPANDING SPHERE Readings: Women's America, Block |
| Thursday September 20: Discussion of Readings Women's America, Sklar (begins p. 159), Smith-Rosenberg Root of Bitterness, Part III, pp. 113-173 |
| Week Five |
| Tuesday September 25: WOMEN AND U.S. NATIONAL EXPANSION Reading: Women's America, Rohrbough, Pascoe Root of Bitterness, Part IV, pp. 177-235 **Distribute midterm exam passages in class** Midterm Exam Format and Study Guidelines |
| Thursday September 27: NO CLASS |
| Week Six |
| Tuesday October 2: WOMEN, SLAVERY & THE CIVIL WAR Readings: Women's America, Berkin |
| Thursday October 4: Discussion of Readings Women's America, Painter, Faust Root of Bitterness, Part V, pp. 239-290 |
| Week Seven |
| Tuesday October 9: IN-CLASS EXAM |
| Thursday October 11: SCREENING: IDA B. WELLS: A PASSION FOR
JUSTICE Readings: Women's America, Wells (begins p. 267) Bederman, "'Civilization,'The Decline of Middle-Class Manliness, and Ida B. Wells' Antilynching Campaign (1892-94)" (Handout) **Paper assignment distributed in class** |
| Week Eight |
| Tuesday October 16: NO CLASS--MIDTERN BREAK |
| Thursday October 18: WORKERS AND REFORMERS FACE THE CHALLENGE
AND PROMISES OF THE MODERN INDUSTRIAL CITY Readings: Women's America, Gilmore, Orleck, Sklar (begins p. 312) Modern American Women, Chapter 2 and 3, pp. 30-53 and pp. 54-78 |
| Week Nine |
| Tuesday October 23: CLAIMING THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENSHIP --
VOTES & LAWS Readings: Women's America, Lerner |
| Thursday October 25: Discussion of Readings Women's America, Hunter, DuBois, and the following documents: Declaration of Sentiments (p. 207), Reconstruction Amendments (p. 241), and Equal Suffrage Amendment (p. 340) Modern American Women, Chapter 5, pp. 112-136 |
| Week Ten |
| Tuesday October 30: THE NEW WOMAN: THE TWENTIES AND POST-SUFFRAGE POLITICS |
| Thursday November 1: Discussion of Readings Women's America, Brumberg, Cott, Hall, and the following documents: Comstock Law (p. 244), Margaret Sanger excerpt (p. 355) Modern American Women, Chapter 6, pp. 141-171 |
| Week Eleven |
| Tuesday November 6: WOMEN, THE DEPRESSION & THE RISE OF THE WELFARE STATE |
| Thursday November 8: Discussion of Readings Women's America, Cook, Jones, Yung, Kessler-Harris Modern American Women, Chapter 7, pp. 172-294 |
| Week Twelve |
| Tuesday November 13: SCREENING: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ROSIE
THE RIVETER Readings: Women's America, Evans (begins p. 442) **Paper due at beginning of class** |
| Thursday November 15: Discussion of Film and Readings Women's America, Bailey and Farber, Matsumoto Modern American Women, Chapter 8, pp. 213-240 |
| Week Thirteen |
| Tuesday November 20: CONFORMITY & CONSENSUS?: WOMEN IN
COLD WAR AMERICA Readings: Women's America, McEnaney, Freedman, Cahn, Swerdlow Modern American Women, Chapter 9, pp. 241-273 |
| Thursday November 22: NO CLASS--THANKSGIVING |
| Week Fourteen |
| Tuesday November 27: NEW DEMANDS: THE MULTIPLE ORIGINS OF
SECOND WAVE FEMINISM(S) Readings: Women's America, DeHart (Conclusion) |
| Thursday November 29: Discussion of Readings Women's America, Horowitz, and the following documents: Pauli Murray (p. 508), Ellen Willis (p. 539) Modern American Women, Chapters 10 and 11, pp. 279-312, 313-338 |
| Week Fifteen |
| Tuesday December 4: THE WORLD FEMINISM MADE? 1980s & 90s Readings: Women's America, Rymph, Ginsburg, and review DeHart (Conclusion) Modern American Women, Chapters 12 and 13, pp. 347-372, 373-412 |
| Thursday December 6: **Please bring into class an image,
written source, or artifact of women's lives in the year 2001. Come prepared
to discuss how your piece of contemporary life fits into the course's themes
and issues. Does it represent a significant change in women's lives or is
it a reminder of continuity? (Be creative in your choice; we don't want
to end up with 50 issues of Vogue! Be respectful as well; don't just
bring material for its shock value.)
**Final exam distributed in class** |
| Week Sixteen |
| Tuesday December 11: DISCUSSION: SO WHAT? IS HISTORY DIFFERENT
WITH WOMEN IN IT? Readings: Revisit reading from Thursday August 30 |