Rachel Louise Moran

Women’s and Gender History from 1900

History 3062
Fall 2024
T/Th 11-12:20 – Wooten 215

Course Description

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of the history of women and gender in the United States from the year 1900 to the present. It examines the social, political, economic, and cultural experiences of women and the developing understanding of gender during this period. Students will develop a nuanced understanding of how gender has shaped American society and how women have contributed to and influenced social change. 

Course Objectives

  1. Gain an understanding of the experiences and contributions of women in the United States since 1900
  2. Analyze the historical intersections of gender with race, class, sexuality, and other identities 
  3. Explore key social, political, and cultural movements that have shaped the lives of women and the understanding of gender. 
  4. Evaluate the impact of women’s activism and advocacy on policy, social change, and women’s rights. 
  5. Examine the evolving nature of gender in contemporary American society.

Required Texts

  • Mary Jane Treacy, Greenwich Village, 1913, Second Edition: Suffrage, Labor, and the New Woman
  • Other readings on Canvas 

Assignments and Grades

  • Greenwich village assignments –
    • Paper 1 – 110 points
    • Paper 2 – 110 points
    • Participation in game – 50 points 
  • Oral history project – 250 points (25 for recording, 25 for transcript, 200 for paper) OR take-home final exam (2 short answers at 25 points each and 2 essay answers at 100 points each)
  • 8 Preps – There are 19 preps offered, you must do 16 of them. 16×15 = 240
  • 24 Exits – There are 27 exit tickets offered, I drop 3, so you must do 24 of them. 24×10 = 240

——

= 1000 points total

Grading Scale (900+ = A; 800-899 = B; 700-799 = C, 600-699 = D, Under 500 = F)

Week 1 – Foundations of Women’s and Gender History

Tues, Aug 20

  • In class: 
    • Syllabus and introduction, policies and purpose of policies

Thurs, Aug 22

  • Before class:
    • Read Nancy Hewitt, “From Seneca Falls to Suffrage? Reimagining a ‘Master’ Narrative in U.S. Women’s History,” in No Permanent Waves: Recasting Histories of U.S. Feminism
  • In Class:
    • Discussion of readings, grounding concepts of course

Week 2 – Turn of the Century: The West and the South 

Tues, August 27

  • Before class:
    • Read Peggy Pascoe, “Race, Gender, and Intercultural Relations: The Case of Interracial Marriage”
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit or a concept map or a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Tuesday at 10am) – Prep #1
  • In class:
    • Exit 1
    • Slides on gender in West, discussion of readings, Zitkala-Sa document 

Thurs, August 29

  • Before class:
    • Read Crystal N. Feimster, “The Gender and Racial Politics of the Anti-Lynching Movement,” in Southern Horrors: Women and the Politics of Rape and Lynching
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Thursday at 10am) – Prep #2
  • In class:
    • Slides on Reconstruction and gender, discussion of reading, Ida B. Wells
    • Exit 2

Week 3 – Greenwich Village, 1913: Week 1

Tues, Sept 3: Preliminary session 1 (women’s rights/suffrage background) and overview of game

  • Before class:
    • Read “Greenwich Village” and “Women’s Rights and Suffrage” (in Chapter 2, p. 9-21) in Game Book
    • Read Jane Addams, “Why Women Should Vote” (1916), p. 95-97 in Game Book
    • Read Emma Goldman, “Woman Suffrage” (1910), p. 79-81 in Game Book
    • Read Adella Hunt Logan, “Colored Women as Voters” (1912), p. 82-82 in Game Book
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit or a concept map or a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Tuesday at 10am) – Prep #3
  • In class:
    • Overview of suffrage movement, 19th century to 1920, intro to game, roles
    • Exit 3 – Role sheet forms

Thurs, Sept 5: No in person class (Dr. Moran on work trip, available by email)

  • Read “Labor and labor movements” (in Chapter 2) in Game Book, p. 22-32
  • Read Rose Schneiderman, “Senators vs. Working Women” (1912), p. 86-89 in Game Book
  • Read Julia Bracken Wendt, “Women’s Trade Union League Seal” (ca. 1908), p. 116 in Game Book
  • Read Hubert Harrison, “Socialism and the Negro” (1912), p. 131-133
  • Respond to on Canvas prompt for exit ticket #4 points
  • Role sheets will be emailed

Week 4 – Greenwich Village, 1913: Week 2

Tues, Sept 10: Preliminary sessions 2 (labor) and 3 (the new)/overview of roles and rules

  • Before class:
    • Read “Bohemia: The Spirit of the New” in Chapter 2 of the Game Book, p. 32-45
    • Read “The Game” Chapter 3 in the Game Book, 47-61
    • Read Hutchins Hapgood, “The Bohemian, The American, and the Foreigner,” p. 150-153
    • Read Margaret Sanger, “Aim” (1914), p. 169-171
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit or a concept map or a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Thursday at 10am) – Prep #4
  • In class:
    • Overview of early 20th century labor, overview of Bohemians
    • Rules and gameplay 
    • First faction meeting
    • Exit 5

Thurs, Sept 12: Game Session 4: The Suffrage Cause (first game session!)

  • Before class:
    • REVIEW “The Game” Chapter 3 in the Game Book, 47-61
    • Submit – suffrage faction (and others, role sheet dependent – Goldman, Du Bois, Morton-Jones) submit first papers.
    • Write ahead – Non-suffrage members – answer “What is the most important change to women’s lives you would like to achieve?” – one sentence – bring to class with you 
  • In class:
    • Polly documents PIPs, each suffrage faction members speaks for 5 minutes, questions and comments from other players (share one sentences)
    • Polly must invite three appropriate players (see professor) to speak in the next class.
    • Exit 6 (attendance)

Week 5 – Greenwich Village, 1913: Week 3

Tues, Sept 17: Game sessions 5 (labor has its day) AND 6 (the feminist mass meeting)

  • Before class:
    • Role dependent work: Labor faction submits papers, most villagers submit position papers. Goldman, Du Bois, Newman, Simkovitch have their own assignments.
    • Players not in labor faction should prepare one sentence on their view: “Do you support this general strike in Paterson? Why or why not?” Bring in.
    • Players not in villagers faction should prepare one sentence on their view: “What does feminism mean to me?”
  • In class:
    • Polly documents PIPs, Labor speaks for 5 minutes each, questions and comments from other players (general strike sentences). Flip to feminist mass meeting. Invited speakers have five minutes each. Questions and comments from other players (what does feminism mean to me?).
    • Mabel Dodge must announce her guest for next class, and her required reading!
    • Max Eastman must announce The Masses submission procedures
    • Any requests for other activities in remaining sessions must be made to Polly
    • Exit 7 (attendance) 

Thurs, Sept 19: Game sessions 7 (Mabel Dodge’s meeting) 

  • Before class:
    • Read – Mabel’s choice, as announced previous class period
    • Role dependent work: papers may be due, see role sheets
  • In class:
    • Polly documents PIPs, Mabel introduces speaker, speaker has 10-15 minutes to lead session however they want, Mabel evaluates speaker and (if desired) awards PIPs
    • Exit 8 (attendance)

Week 6 – Finishing the Game/the 1920s

Tues, Sept 24: Game sessions 8 and 9 (The Masses, The Vote, Facing the Future)

  • Before class:
    • Read The Quill (Canvas/distributed during previous class)
  • In class:
    • Polly documents PIPs, Eastman presents The Masses and his vision (15 minutes). Switches to the Vote. Polly asks each faction to prepare 3-sentence explanation of why players should support their cause. Discuss voting rules, distribute ballots based on PIPs. Visitors give endorsements. Goldman speech. Votes tallied. Switches to Facing the Future, if time. Discuss World War I, and its impact on suffrage, labor, and bohemians.
    • Exit 9 (attendance)

Thurs, Sept 26

  • Before class:
    • Read Lillian Faderman, “Lesbian Chic: Experimentation and Repression in the 1920s,” from Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth Century America
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Tuesday at 10am) – Prep #5
  • In class:
    • Game debriefing
    • Slides on 1920s US and gender/sex
    • Exit 10

Week 7 – Women in the Great Depression/New Deal

Tues, Oct 1

  • Before class:
    • Read Leslie J. Reagan, “When Abortion was a Crime: Reproduction and the Economy in the Great Depression”
    • Read Andrea Tone, “Women, Birth Control, and the Marketplace in the 1930s”
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Tuesday at 10am) – Prep #6
  • In class:
    • Game debriefing
    • Slides on Great Depression, discussion of reading/Listerine ads
    • Exit 11

Thurs, Oct 3

  • NO CLASS 

Week 8 – World War II

Tues, Oct 8

  • Before class:
    • Read Alice Kessler Harris, “Rethinking Women’s Work during World War II”
    • NO PREP
  • In class: 
    • Watching The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter
    • Exit 12

Thurs, Oct 10

  • Before class:
    • Read Beth Bailey and David Farber, “Prostitutes on Strike: The Women of Hotel Street during World War II” 
    • Read Valerie Matsumoto, “Japanese American Women during World War II”
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Tuesday at 10am) – Prep #7
  • In class: 
    • Discussion of women in WWII
    • Exit 13

Week 9 – Gender and Race in the Post-War Era

Tues, Oct 15

  • Before class:
    • Read Carolyn Herbst Lewis, “Waking Sleeping Beauty: The Premarital Pelvic Exam and Heterosexuality during the Cold War”
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Tuesday at 10am) – Prep #8
  • In class: 
    • Discuss reading, Archival work with Better Homes and Gardens
    • Exit 14

Thurs, Oct 17

  • Before class:
    • Read: Susan J. Douglas, “Why the Shirelles Mattered: Girl Groups on the Cusp of a Feminist Awakening”
    • Read Yvonne Keller, “Lesbian Pulp Novels and U.S. Lesbian Identity”
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Thursday at 10am) – Prep #9
  • In class:
    • Instructions for oral history project, discuss reading, analyzing music
    • Exit 15

Week 10 – Race and Gender in Postwar America 

Tues, Oct 22

  • Before class: 
    • None
  • In class: 
    • Watch: My Name is Pauli Murray
    • Exit 16

Thurs, Oct 24

  • Before class: 
    • Read Danielle L. McGuire, “Sexual Violence and the Long Civil Rights Movement”
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Thursday at 10am) – Prep #10
  • In class: 
    • Finish My Name is Pauli Murray, Civil Rights movement slides, Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin
    • Exit 17

Week 11 – 1960s and 1970s Feminism

Tues, Oct 29

  • Before class:
    • Read: Daniel Horowitz, “Betty Friedan and the Origins of Feminism in Cold War America”
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Tuesday at 10am) – Prep #11
  • In class: 
    • Slides on classic narratives of second wave feminism, Miss America protests
    • Exit 18

Thurs, Oct 31: Visit the Texas Fashion Collection, 405 S Welch St, Denton, TX 76201

  • Before class:
    • Check canvas for details about field trip! Class will be divided into two shifts to fit into the collection, one going from 11-11:40 and one going from 11:40-12:20. Your assigned shift will be on Canvas!
  • In class:
    • Explore the Texas Fashion Collection, focused on historical swimsuits
    • Exit 19 (attendance)

Week 12 – Backlash Politics/Family Values Politics

Tues, Nov 5

  • Before Class:
    • Read: Annelise Orleck, “Women’s Movements for Redistributive and Social Justice: Other Faces of Radical Feminism”
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Tuesday at 10am) – Prep #12
  • In class:
    • Rethinking the “second wave,” archival work with Ms Magazine 
    • Exit 20

Thurs, Nov 7

  • Before class:
    • Read Bruce Schulman, “Battles of the Sexes: Women, Men, and the Family,” from The Seventies
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Thursday at 10am) – – Prep #13
  • In class: 
    • The ERA
    • Exit 21

Week 13 – Reproductive and Health Politics

Tues, Nov 12

  • Before class:
    • Read Wendy Kline, “Women Readers and the Feminist Health Movement of the 1970s and 1980s”
  • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Tuesday at 10am) Prep #14
  • In class:
    • Histories of birth control
    • Exit 22

Thurs, Nov 14

  • Before class:
    • Read: Karissa Haugeberg, “The Emergence of Crisis Pregnancy Centers,” from Women Against Abortion
  • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Thursday at 10am) Prep #15
  • In class:
    • Histories of abortion
    • Exit 23

Week 14 – Gender in the 1980s and 1990s

Tues, Nov 19

  • Before class:
    • Read: Andrew Hartman, “The Trouble with Gender,” From A War for the Soul of America
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Tuesday at 10am) Prep #16
  • In class: 
    • Gender in the 1980s
    • Exit 24

Thurs, Nov 21

  • Before class: 
    • Read Charlie Jeffries, “Explicit Content,” from Teenage Dreams: Girlhood Sexualities in the U.S. Culture Wars”
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Thursday at 10am) Prep #17
  • In Class:
    • The 1990s: Anita Hill and Riot Girl
    • Exit 25

Thanksgiving Break

Week 15 – Contemporary Histories of Gender

Tues, Dec 3

  • Before class: 
    • Read: Jo Reger, “Contemporary Feminism and Beyond,” in US Women’s Social Movement Activism
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Thursday at 10am) Prep #18
  • In class:
    • The Third Wave/2000s
    • Exit 26

Thurs, Dec 5

  • Before class:
    • Read: Brittney Cooper, “Digital Demands Toward Decolonial Feminist Futures”
    • Submit two questions and one fascinating bit OR a concept map OR a 150-word response (on Canvas, by Thursday at 10am) Prep #19
  • In class:
    • Exit 27

Final:

Oral History Project or Test – Due Tuesday, December 12