Assignment instructions :
In the early decades of the 20th century, a great shift occurred in women’s roles, as more women took to the public sphere to advocate for change. The Progressive era reform movements relied on an increase in college educated “New Women” and a growth in the number of women in the labor force. Many of these reform movements centered on improving the lives of women as laborers, citizens, consumers, and members of the family.
But many also relied on a politics of exclusion, as white middle and upper class reformers sometimes advocated for their rights at the expense of others. By 1920, the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment granting suffrage signaled a new era for women. The suffrage movement benefitted greatly from Progressive era reform movements pushing for inclusion in the male-dominated public and political sphere.
Then choose one of the following Progressive era reform movements to focus on for your post:
Working women and unions
“Public housekeeping” reform
Native American policy reform
African American women’s clubs and societies
The birth control movement
Pacifism
Temperance
As you review the sources, answer BOTH bullets below to address thoroughly in an initial post. You should use specific examples from at least two primary sources in your post:
How did the group you chose unite or divide women in pursuit of their agenda and vision of American womanhood?
How did the reform movement you chose intersect with the suffrage movement?
How did the arguments used to push for suffrage unite and divide American women?
