A Reevaluation and Reinterpretation of the Association for the Advancement of Women, 1873-1897
Location
Science Center, A155
Document Type
Presentation
Start Date
4-24-2015 2:45 PM
End Date
4-24-2015 3:45 PM
Abstract
The Association for the Advancement of Women (AAW) was an ideologically diverse late 19th-century American women’s group. Over the last few decades, general interest in women’s history has increased—yet historians still tend to overlook or dismiss the AAW. Using published papers from the organization’s annual congresses and contemporaneous newspaper accounts as evidence, my research first questions why the few authors who have considered this association have treated it so simplistically. I then argue that the AAW’s work, which led to important network-building and idea-sharing among early feminists, should instead be read as significant and progressive.
Recommended Citation
Payne, Claire, "A Reevaluation and Reinterpretation of the Association for the Advancement of Women, 1873-1897" (04/24/15). Senior Symposium. 43.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/seniorsymp/2015/presentations/43
Major
History
Advisor(s)
Carol Lasser, History
Project Mentor(s)
Clayton Koppes, History
April 2015
A Reevaluation and Reinterpretation of the Association for the Advancement of Women, 1873-1897
Science Center, A155
The Association for the Advancement of Women (AAW) was an ideologically diverse late 19th-century American women’s group. Over the last few decades, general interest in women’s history has increased—yet historians still tend to overlook or dismiss the AAW. Using published papers from the organization’s annual congresses and contemporaneous newspaper accounts as evidence, my research first questions why the few authors who have considered this association have treated it so simplistically. I then argue that the AAW’s work, which led to important network-building and idea-sharing among early feminists, should instead be read as significant and progressive.
Notes
Session 2, Panel 9 - Discipline and Power: The Amusement Park, the Bicycle, and the Association for the Advancement of Women
Moderator: Pablo Mitchell, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences