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1 Gilded-Age Chicago Women: A Cultural History of the late Nineteenth Century LaShonda Katrice Barnett, Ph.D. The Newberry 60 West Walton Street Chicago, Illinois 60610 Spring Seminar 2016, Wednesdays 5:457:45 p.m. Seminar Description During the Gilded Age, ideas of gender and gender relationships shifted drastically in both public and private spheres. The largest wave of immi- gration from Europe mixed into a population that had been primarily Anglo-and-African American. Add to this heady current, the develop- ment of mass-consumption, leisure and the working-class response. Relations between different ethnic groups of women, different classes, and the way power dynamics shaped those interactions complicated women’s social and political struggles. In this seminar we place the lives of Gilded-Age Chicago women in the interpretive center of U.S. history. Our study is framed by the oft- competing concepts of capitalism and democracy, especially the socio- political movements to which women’s participation laid claim and enabled them to assert power in American public life. Tracing working- class, middle-class and leisure-class women’s experiences as activists, laborers, club women, professionals, and artists, we will analyze the intersections of race, class and gender. Examining Chicago’s industria- lization and urbanization, we focus on women’s unsung roles in these arenas. Drawing on an array of primary sources, including letters, speeches, photographs, as well as women’s print culture, music, and secondary sources, we will pay particular attention to: (1) women and progressive reform; (2) the meaning of freedom for black women living in the shadow of slavery and the strategies they employed to thrive in the context of urbanization, with a focus on black migration to Chicago’s South Side; (3) women’s roles in the development of businesses and corporations; (4) urban planning and politics. Seminar discussions are augmented by field experiences at Chicago’s Dreihaus Museum (one of Chicago’s few remaining Gilded-Age mansions) and the Hull House museum. When in 1873 Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner entitled their co-authored novel The Gilded Age, they gave the late nineteenth century its popular name. The term reflected the combination of outward wealth and dazzle with inner corruption and poverty. Given the period’s absence of powerful and charismatic presidents, its lack of a dominant political event, and its sometimes tawdry history, historians have often defined the period by negatives. They stress greed, scandals, and corruption of the Gilded Age. Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth. Lucy Parsons

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                                              Gilded-Age Chicago Women: A Cultural History of the late Nineteenth Century

LaShonda Katrice Barnett, Ph.D. The Newberry 60 West Walton Street Chicago, Illinois 60610  

Spring  Seminar  2016,  Wednesdays  5:45-­‐‑7:45  p.m.  

Seminar Description During the Gilded Age, ideas of gender and gender relationships shifted drastically in both public and private spheres. The largest wave of immi-gration from Europe mixed into a population that had been primarily Anglo-and-African American. Add to this heady current, the develop-ment of mass-consumption, leisure and the working-class response. Relations between different ethnic groups of women, different classes, and the way power dynamics shaped those interactions complicated women’s social and political struggles. In this seminar we place the lives of Gilded-Age Chicago women in the interpretive center of U.S. history. Our study is framed by the oft-competing concepts of capitalism and democracy, especially the socio-political movements to which women’s participation laid claim and enabled them to assert power in American public life. Tracing working-class, middle-class and leisure-class women’s experiences as activists, laborers, club women, professionals, and artists, we will analyze the intersections of race, class and gender. Examining Chicago’s industria-lization and urbanization, we focus on women’s unsung roles in these arenas. Drawing on an array of primary sources, including letters, speeches, photographs, as well as women’s print culture, music, and secondary sources, we will pay particular attention to: (1) women and progressive reform; (2) the meaning of freedom for black women living in the shadow of slavery and the strategies they employed to thrive in the context of urbanization, with a focus on black migration to Chicago’s South Side; (3) women’s roles in the development of businesses and corporations; (4) urban planning and politics. Seminar discussions are augmented by field experiences at Chicago’s Dreihaus Museum (one of Chicago’s few remaining Gilded-Age mansions) and the Hull House museum.

When in 1873 Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner entitled their co-authored novel The Gilded Age, they gave the late nineteenth century its popular name. The term reflected the combination of outward wealth and dazzle with inner corruption and poverty. Given the period’s absence of powerful and charismatic presidents, its lack of a dominant political event, and its sometimes tawdry history, historians have often defined the period by negatives. They stress greed, scandals, and corruption of the Gilded Age.

 

Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.  —Lucy Parsons  

 

 

 

     

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Requirements:

Weekly Questions: In addition to the required weekly readings, students are expected to bring to class a written question about the reading. The questions, written on index cards, will be pooled in class. Each student will select a question to address.

Presentation With Paper (3-to-5 pages): Each week a participant will present the reading(s) of their choice. Weekly participant-led discussions will focus on clarifying, commenting, and elaborating on the reading(s). You are not expected to be the authority on that week’s topic, but you should demonstrate an understanding of the readings by articulating conceptual themes and links to other works and defend your position with evidence. The best presentations are delivered ex tempore (i.e. not read but spoken). Think about the main points you want to make; explain your topic and the questions that motivated you, and what conclusions you drew. Please, do not read your presentation. Instead, prepare well enough so that you can speak cogently about your topic in a spontaneous but organized way. Keep your presentations to 10 minutes.

Response Essay—2 (RE): For one RE, you will peruse issues of the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, and write a two-page essay on the articles’ tone. While writing consider the big question: What’s at stake? For the second RE, you will select one of the (Primary Source) Excerpts from and write a critique or evaluation of the document. Unlike a summary, your RE is composed of your opinions; it examines ideas that you agree or disagree with and exposes the source’s strengths and weaknesses through sound reasoning bolstered by supporting examples, solid organization and persuasive style. The RE should draw on facts, examples and personal experience.

Primary Source Analysis (PSA) 1-to-3 pages: You are responsible for choosing a primary source from the Newberry Library’s Gilded-Age collection to analyze. When analyzing primary sources, historians consider the type of primary source under study. We will discuss the different types during the first class session since primary sources are created for varying reasons. Knowing the different types of primary sources will help you evaluate their reliability. During your analysis consider the following:

• What type of source is this? (Photograph, newspaper article, audio recording, sheet music, film, manuscript, memoir, letter, speech, or specify other). • Identify the author or creator of the source. • When was the source created? • Describe any unique qualities in the source. • Record all possible observations about the source’s content, images, text, and style. • Does the source represent a particular bias or point of view? Point to evidence in the source to explain your answer. • Why do you think this source was created? • What questions are left unanswered by this source? • How does this source broaden or enrich your understanding of the topic you are studying? Book/Film/Documentary Review (R): The point of a scholarly review is not to summarize the content of the book or source under review, but to posit the historical merit of the book and to evaluate critically the author's purpose, thesis, contentions, and methods of analysis. Your review

[email protected]  Course  Website:  http://www.lashondabarnett.com/ChicagoGildedAge.html  

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essay will be an evaluation of the author's presentation of his/her thesis, and a commentary on the book's contribution to one's understanding of important issues in Gilded-Age Chicago history. Reviews will be approximately 500 words (roughly 2-typed pages) in length. An essential feature of a good book review is the reviewer's ability to write concisely so that a comprehensive evaluation of the book can be obtained from a brief reading. So, do not write more, write more concisely -find creative ways to communicate your critical evaluation of the book in a short essay.

Great Expectations

Attendance and Class Participation: As with all seminars, attendance is essential in order for students to discuss works critically and analytically. Arrival more than 15 minutes late without prior consent from the instructor will be considered an absence. A pattern of unexcused absences will result in reduced credit.

Required Materials 4x6 white index cards and 5x7 multicolor index cards. Spring 2016 Texts Elaine S. Abelson, When Ladies Go A-Thieving: Middle-Class Shoplifters in the Victorian Department Store 01995071425 Rebecca Edwards, New Spirits: Americans in the Gilded Age: 1865-1905 Isbn: 0195147286 Janet Thomas Greenwood, The Gilded Age: A History in Documents Isbn: 0195105230 Novels Renée Rosen, What the Lady Wants: A Novel of Marshall Field and the Gilded Age Isbn: 0451466713 Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie: A Novel Isbn: 0451531140 Book Chapters and Journal Articles (Provided by instructor) Christopher Robert Reed, “Gilded-Age Chicago, 1880-1892,” in Black Chicago’s First Century (Columbia: University of Missouri, 2005): 228-336. Roberta M. Feldman, “The Community Household: The Foundation of Everyday Resistance,” in The Dignity of Resistance: Women Residents’ Activism in Chicago Public Housing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010): 91-114. Patricia Kelleher, “Maternal Strategies: Irish Women’s Headship of Families in Gilded Age Chicago,” in Journal of Women’s History, Vol. 13, No. 2, Summer 2001, pp. 80-106. Micah Childress, “Life Beyond the Big Top: African American and Female Circusfolk, 1860-1920,” in the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, available on CJO2015. doi:10.1017/S1537781415000250. Linda K. Kerber, “Separate Spheres, Female Worlds, Woman’s Place: The Rhetoric of Women’s History,” The Journal of American History 75, no. 1 (June 1, 1988): 9-39. Kathy Peiss. “‘Charity Girls’ and City Pleasures: Historical Notes on Working-class Sexuality, 1880-1920” in Unequal Sisters, First Edition.

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**Note: Prior to the first class meeting, please read essay: Linda K. Kerber, “Separate Spheres, Female Worlds, Woman’s Place: The Rhetoric of Women’s History,” The Journal of American History 75, no. 1 (June 1, 1988): 9-39. Found on the course website

Spring 2016 SCHEDULE:

Week 1 Central Issues for Researching and Writing Women’s History in the Gilded Age 2/17 Read the short essays listed below all housed at The women Building Chicago Index, found here: http://www.chicagohistoryfair.org/history-

fair/history-fair-a-nhd-theme/subject-essays/chicago-women-history-topics.html

    “Women  Contribute  to  the  Commercial  and  Social  Development  of  Chicago,         1790-­‐‑   1860”;  “Women  and  the  Great  Chicago  Fire  of  1871”;  “Women  and  Wage       Labor”  and  “Middle  Class  Women  Advance  A  Reform  Agenda  For  The  City”    

Week 2 Rebecca Edwards, New Spirits: Americans in the Gilded Age: 1865-1905 2/24 (pp. 99-110; 114-122) (The following list comprises mini-speeches by Lucy Parsons) Lucy Parson’s Excerpts: “The Negative of Government”; “A Stroll Through the Streets of Chicago”; “The Haymarket Meeting: A Graphic Description”; “What Anarchy Means”; “Our Label: The IWW Label”; “The Importance of A Press” Week 3 Renée Rosen, What the Lady Wants: A Novel of Marshall Field and the Gilded Age 3/2 Week 4(RE) Cont. Renée Rosen, What the Lady Wants: A Novel of Marshall Field and the 3/9 Gilded Age How to Use: Janet Thomas Greenwood’s The Gilded Age: A History in Documents Response Essay Due Week 5 • Jane Addams, “A Decade of Economic Discussion in Twelve Years at Hull House” (original publ., 1910; New York: Penguin, 1961), pp. 138-147. Jane Addams, “A Decade of Economic Discussion in Twelve Years at Hull House (original publ., 1910; New York: 3/16 • Ellen Skerrett, “The Irish of Chicago’s Hull-House Neighborhood.” Chicago History 30, no. 1 (2001): 22-63. Call # Local History Ref F548.1.C465 (second floor open shelf • Patricia Kelleher, “Maternal Strategies: Irish Women’s Headship of Families in Gilded Age Chicago” • Natalie Walker, “Chicago Housing Conditions X: Greeks and Italians in the Neighborhood of Hull House.” The American Journal of Sociology 21, no. 3. (Nov. 1915): 285-316. Call # H 07 .033. Also available in the library through JSTOR.

Week 6 (PSA) Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “Women and Economics”; 3/23 Kathy Peiss, “‘Charity Girls’ and City Pleasures: Historical Notes on Working-class Sexuality, 1880-1920”; Edward O’Donnell, “Women as Bread Winners—The Error of the Age (1887)” Primary Source Analysis Due

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Week 7 (RE) Christopher Robert Reed, “Gilded-Age Chicago, 1880-1892,” in Black Chicago’s 4/6 First Century pp. 228-336. Micah Childress, “Life Beyond the Big Top: African American and Female Circusfolk, 1860-1920.” Review Due Week 8 (RE) Elaine S. Abelson, When Ladies Go A-Thieving: Middle-Class Shoplifters in the 4/13 Victorian Department Store (Chapters 1, 2, 6 & 7) 2nd Response Essay Due Week 9 Theordore Dreiser, Sister Carrie pp. 1-89 4/20 Week 10 (R) Theordore Dreiser, Sister Carrie pp. 90-End. 4/27 • Women & the Arts and Crafts Movement in Chicago, 1880-1910 Primary Sources from the Kalo Arts and Crafts Community House LEARNING OUTCOMES: Assessed outcomes:This course has been designed to facilitate and assess your mastery of the following outcomes: 1.Ability to evaluate the various components of a work of academic scholarship (thesis, argument, evidence, significance to historiography) and communicate these findings in an informal written form and in small group discussions. 2. Ability to interpret a work of historical fiction within its historical context and communicate these findings in an informal written form and in small group and class discussions. 3. Ability to make connections among course readings and sources and develop original analyses about their collective historical significance and communicate these findings. 4. Understanding of the critical analytical tools, main themes, and essential content of US women's history as emphasized in this course, including the complexity of relations among different cultural groups of women and the role these complex relations play in determining women's status and power within the dominant social order. 5. Ability to bring together the above outcomes in order to communicate them as an argumentative analytical essay. Unassessed outcomes:Additional outcomes that you might achieve, but which will not be assessed, include: 1. Understanding of the complexity of the relationships between different cultural groups and the ways in which imbalances of power bear upon these relationships (as seen through the social history of Chicago under examination in this seminar). 2. Appreciation for the importance of women's history as a lens through which to examine US history. 3. Appreciation for the ways that an understanding of history can shed light on contemporary issues.