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All the Single Ladies : Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation A nuanced investigation into the sexual, economic, and emotional lives of women in America, this “singularly triumphant work” (Los Angeles Times) by Rebecca Traister “the most brilliant voice on feminism in the country” (Anne Lamott) is “sure to be vigorously discussed” (Booklist, starred review). In 2009, the award-winning journalist Rebecca Traister started All the Single Ladies—a book she thought would be a work of contemporary journalism—about the twenty-first century phenomenon of the American single woman. It was the year the proportion of American women who were married dropped below fifty per¢ and the median age of first marriages, which had remained between twenty and twenty-two years old for nearly a century (1890–1980), had risen dramatically to twenty-seven. But over the course of her vast research and more than a hundred interviews with academics and social scientists and prominent single women, Traister discovered a startling truth: the phenomenon of the single woman in America is not a new one. And historically, when women were given options beyond early heterosexual marriage, the results were massive social change—temperance, abolition, secondary education, and more. Today, only twenty percent of Americans are wed by age twenty-nine, compared to nearly sixty percent in 1960. The Population Reference Bureau calls it a “dramatic reversal.” All the Single Ladies is a remarkable portrait of contemporary American life and how we got here, through the lens of the single American woman. Covering class, race, sexual orientation, and filled with vivid anecdotes from fascinating contemporary and historical figures, All the Single Ladies is destined to be a classic work of social history and journalism. Exhaustively researched, brilliantly balanced, and told with Traister’s signature wit and insight, this book should be shelved alongside Gail Collins’s When Everything Changed.
American Reformers American Reformers brings together informative biographies of 600 men and women who were the principal architects of reform in America from the seventeenth century to modern times. Designed for students and the general reader, coverage includes not only the chief facts of each subject's life, but also offers a thought-provoking assessment of the subject's significance to the general reform movement in this country. Last published in 1985, this new second edition offers over 100 new entries, to extend its coverage into the twenty-first century. You'll find new information on the key figures involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, LGBTQ & transgender rights, income equality, plus today's leaders in environmental, social, cultural, political and civil rights reform movements. Plus, this edition includes New Topical Entries on the major social movements in American since the seventh century. This new content allows readers to learn more about these important movements and makes solid connections between the movements themselves and the lives of the leaders behind these social movements.
Americans in Dissent : Thirteen Influential Social Critics of the Nineteenth Century Americans in Dissent is designed as a collection of biographical essays written for general readers and undergraduates that focuses on the topic of American dissent during the period from 1830 to 1890. Centered on influential nineteenth-century social critics, this volume shifts the focus of American reform away from "romantic" attempts at reforming the individual to more pragmatic efforts aimed at confronting social, economic, and political problems. Coexisting with what seemed to be a preponderance of romantic idealism during much of the period was an undercurrent of genuine realism. Instead of looking through the prism of a pre-modern society, many of these dissenters focused on how society was becoming increasingly acquisitive and entrepreneurial. They were among the first to question laissez-faire individualism and unrestrained industrial capitalism and anticipated the critiques of later Progressive Era reformers. Representing a wide range of interests, each of the selections features a fascinating and provocative man or woman who offered a fundamental critique of American society and made a significant contribution to the development of the reform ethos that characterized the period.
Bodies of Reform : The Rhetoric of Character in Gilded Age America From the patricians of the early republic to post-Reconstruction racial scientists, from fin de siècle progressivist social reformers to post-war sociologists, character, that curiously formable yet equally formidable "stuff," has had a long and checkered history giving shape to the American national identity. Bodies of Reform reconceives this pivotal category of nineteenth-century literature and culture by charting the development of the concept of "character" in the fictional genres, social reform movements, and political cultures of the United States from the mid-nineteenth to the early-twentieth century. By reading novelists such as Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Pauline Hopkins, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman alongside a diverse collection of texts concerned with the mission of building character, including child-rearing guides, muscle-building magazines, libel and naturalization law, Scout handbooks, and success manuals, James B. Salazar uncovers how the cultural practices of representing character operated in tandem with the character-building strategies of social reformers. His innovative reading of this archive offers a radical revision of this defining category in U.S. literature and culture, arguing that character was the keystone of a cultural politics of embodiment, a politics that played a critical role in determining-and contesting-the social mobility, political authority, and cultural meaning of the raced and gendered body.
Creating a Female Dominion in American Reform 1890-1935 In this book, Muncy explains the continuity of white, middle-class, American female reform activity between the Progressive era and the New Deal. She argues that during the Progressive era, female reformers built an interlocking set of organizations that attempted to control child welfarepolicy. Within this policymaking body, female progressives professionalized their values, bureaucratized their methods, and institutionalized their reforming networks. To refer to the organizational structure embodying these processes, the book develops the original concept of a female dominion inthe otherwise male empire of policymaking. At the head of this dominion stood the Children's Bureau in the federal Department of Labor. Muncy investigates the development of the dominion and its particular characteristics, such as its monopoly over child welfare and its commitment to publicwelfare, and shows how it was dependent on a peculiarly female professionalism. By exploring that process, this book illuminates the relationship between professionalization and reform, the origins and meaning of Progressive reform, and the role of gender in creating the American welfarestate.
Defining Documents in American History: Dissent and Protest Dissent & Protest studies crucial documents from various protests, dissents, revolts, riots, and revolutions throughout American history, from the American Revolution to the Black Lives Matter Movement of today. This text closely studies more than eighty primary source documents to deliver a thorough examination of issues so important to Americans that they took action, exercised their rights and stood up to protest.
Dissent : The History of an American Idea Examines the key role dissent has played in shaping the United States, emphasizing the way Americans responded to injustices Finalist, 2016 Ralph Waldo Emerson Award One of Bustle's Books For Your Civil Disobedience Reading List Dissent: The History of an American Idea examines the key role dissent has played in shaping the United States. It focuses on those who, from colonial days to the present, dissented against the ruling paradigm of their time: from the Puritan Anne Hutchinson and Native American chief Powhatan in the seventeenth century, to the Occupy and Tea Party movements in the twenty-first century. The emphasis is on the way Americans, celebrated figures and anonymous ordinary citizens, responded to what they saw as the injustices that prevented them from fully experiencing their vision of America. At its founding the United States committed itself to lofty ideals. When the promise of those ideals was not fully realized by all Americans, many protested and demanded that the United States live up to its promise. Women fought for equal rights; abolitionists sought to destroy slavery; workers organized unions; Indians resisted white encroachment on their land; radicals angrily demanded an end to the dominance of the moneyed interests; civil rights protestors marched to end segregation; antiwar activists took to the streets to protest the nation's wars; and reactionaries, conservatives, and traditionalists in each decade struggled to turn back the clock to a simpler, more secure time. Some dissenters are celebrated heroes of American history, while others are ordinary people: frequently overlooked, but whose stories show that change is often accomplished through grassroots activism. The United States is a nation founded on the promise and power of dissent. In this stunningly comprehensive volume, Ralph Young shows us its history. This paperback edition features a new introduction that takes into account the wave of mass protests that occurred following the election and inauguration of President Trump.
Dissent in America : Voices That Shaped a Nation This collection of primary sources presents the story of US History as told by dissenters who, throughout the course of American history, have fought to gain rights they believed were denied to them or others, or who disagree with the government or majority opinion. Each document is introduced by placing it in its historical context, and thought-provoking questions are provided to focus the student when s/he reads the text. Instructors are at liberty to choose the documents that best highlight a theme they wish to emphasize.
Encyclopedia of American Social Movements This four-volume set examines every social movement in American history - from the great struggles for abolition, civil rights, and women's equality to the more specific quests for prohibition, consumer safety, unemployment insurance, and global justice.
The Firebrand and the First Lady : Portrait of a Friendship : Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice A finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, and longlisted for the National Book Award, The Firebrand and the First Lady is the riveting history, two decades in the making, of how a brilliant writer-turned-activist and the first lady of the United States forged an enduring friendship that helped to alter the course of race and racism in America. In 1938, the twenty-eight-year-old Pauli Murray wrote a letter to the President and First Lady, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, protesting racial segregation in the South. Eleanor wrote back. So began a friendship that would last for a quarter of a century, as Pauli became a lawyer, principal strategist in the fight to protect Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and a co-founder of the National Organization of Women, and Eleanor became a diplomat and first chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Lillian Smith Book Award Finalist Georgia Author of the Year Nominated Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award
For the People : American Populist Movements from the Revolution to the 1850s For the People offers a new interpretation of populist political movements from the Revolution to the eve of the Civil War and roots them in the disconnect between the theory of rule by the people and the reality of rule by elected representatives. Ron Formisano seeks to rescue populist movements from the distortions of contemporary opponents as well as the misunderstandings of later historians. From the Anti-Federalists to the Know-Nothings, Formisano traces the movements chronologically, contextualizing them and demonstrating the progression of ideas and movements. Although American populist movements have typically been categorized as either progressive or reactionary, left-leaning or right-leaning, Formisano argues that most populist movements exhibit liberal and illiberal tendencies simultaneously. Gendered notions of "manhood" are an enduring feature, yet women have been intimately involved in nearly every populist insurgency. By considering these movements together, Formisano identifies commonalities that belie the pattern of historical polarization and bring populist movements from the margins to the core of American history.
Freedom Is an Endless Meeting : Democracy in American Social Movements "Freedom Is an Endless Meeting" offers vivid portraits of American experiments in participatory democracy throughout the twentieth century. Drawing on meticulous research and more than one hundred interviews with activists, Francesca Polletta challenges the conventional wisdom that participatory democracy is worthy in purpose but unworkable in practice. Instead, she shows that social movements have often used bottom-up decision making as a powerful tool for political change. Polletta traces the history of democracy in early labor struggles and pre-World War II pacifism, in the civil rights, new left, and women''s liberation movements of the sixties and seventies, and in today''s faith-based organizing and anti-corporate globalization campaigns. In the process, she uncovers neglected sources of democratic inspirationOCoDepression-era labor educators and Mississippi voting registration workers, among themOCoas well as practical strategies of social protest. But "Freedom Is an Endless Meeting" also highlights the obstacles that arise when activists model their democracies after familiar nonpolitical relationships such as friendship, tutelage, and religious fellowship. Doing so has brought into their deliberations the trust, respect, and caring typical of those relationships. But it has also fostered values that run counter to democracy, such as exclusivity and an aversion to rules, and these have been the fault lines around which participatory democracies have often splintered. Indeed, Polletta attributes the fragility of the form less to its basic inefficiency or inequity than to the gaps between activists'' democratic commitments and the cultural models on which they have depended to enact those commitments. The challenge, she concludes, is to forge new kinds of democratic relationships, ones that balance trust with accountability, respect with openness to disagreement, and caring with inclusiveness. For anyone concerned about the prospects for democracy in America, "Freedom Is an Endless Meeting" will offer abundant historical, theoretical, and practical insights. This is an excellent study of activist politics in the United States over the past century. . . . Assiduously researched, impressively informed by a great number of thoughtful interviews with key members of American social movements, and deeply engaged with its subject matter, the book is likely to become a key text in the study of grass-roots democracy in America.OCoKate Fullbrook, "Times Literary Supplement" Polletta''s portrayal challenges the common assumption that morality and strategy are incompatible, that those who aim at winning must compromise principle while those who insist on morality are destined to be ineffective. . . . Rather than dwell on trying to explain the decline of 60s movements, Polletta shows how participatory democracy has become the guiding framework for many of today''s activists.OCoRichard Flacks, "Los Angeles Times Book Review " In Freedom Is an Endless Meeting, Francesca Polletta has produced a remarkable work of historical sociology. . . . She provides the fullest theoretical work of historical sociology. . . . She provides the fullest theoretical picture of participatory democracy, rich with nuance, ambiguity, and irony, that this reviewer has yet seen. . . . This wise book should be studied closely by both academics and by social change activists.OCoStewart Burns, "Journal of American History " "
From Abolition to Rights for All : The Making of a Reform Community in the Nineteenth Century The Civil War was not the end, as is often thought, of reformist activism among abolitionists. After emancipation was achieved, they broadened their struggle to pursue equal rights for women, state medicine, workers' rights, fair wages, immigrants' rights, care of the poor, and a right to decent housing and a healthy environment. Focusing on the work of a key group of activists from 1835 to the dawn of the twentieth century, From Abolition to Rights for All investigates how reformers, linked together and radicalized by their shared experiences in the abolitionist struggle, articulated a core natural rights ideology and molded it into a rationale for successive reform movements. The book follows the abolitionists' struggles and successes in organizing a social movement. For a time after the Civil War these reformers occupied major positions of power, only to be rebuffed in the later years of the nineteenth century as the larger society rejected their inclusive understanding of natural rights. The narrative of perseverance among this small group would be a continuing source of inspiration for reform. The pattern they established--local organization, expansive vision, and eventual challenge by powerful business interests and individuals--would be mirrored shortly thereafter by Progressives.
History of Women in the United States: Social and Moral Reform Women in social and moral reform from Hull House to strikes.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett and American Reform, 1880-1930 Pioneering African American journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) is widely remembered for her courageous antilynching crusade in the 1890s; the full range of her struggles against injustice is not as well known. With this book, Patricia Schechter restores Wells-Barnett to her central, if embattled, place in the early reform movements for civil rights, women's suffrage, and Progressivism in the United States and abroad. Schechter's comprehensive treatment makes vivid the scope of Wells-Barnett's contributions and examines why the political philosophy and leadership of this extraordinary activist eventually became marginalized. Though forced into the shadow of black male leaders such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington and misunderstood and then ignored by white women reformers such as Frances E. Willard and Jane Addams, Wells-Barnett nevertheless successfully enacted a religiously inspired, female-centered, and intensely political vision of social betterment and empowerment for African American communities throughout her adult years. By analyzing her ideas and activism in fresh sharpness and detail, Schechter exposes the promise and limits of social change by and for black women during an especially violent yet hopeful era in U.S. history.
The Progressive Era's Health Reform Movement Religious, political, social, and health reform earmarked the Progressive Era. The era's health reform movement--like today's clean living movement--saw campaigns against alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and sexuality. It included crusades for exercise, vegetarian diets, and alternative health care and concerns about eugenics and new diseases. Covering the years leading up to the Progressive Era through the 1920s, this book provides entries on the central figures, events, crusades, legislation, publications and terms of the health reform movements, while a detailed timeline ties health reform to political, social, and religious movements. A valuable resource for scholars, students, and laymen interested in earlier health reform movements.
The Progressives : Activism and Reform in American Society, 1893-1917 The Progressives offers comprehensive coverage of the origins, evolution, and notable events that came to define the pivotal period of American history known as the Progressive Era. Offers a rich, in-depth analysis of who the progressives were and the process through which they identified and attacked social, economic, and political injustices Features an up-to-date synthesis of the literature of the field including comprehensive treatment of the role of women in the Progressive Movement Considers the movement's enduring impact - and how its vision for a better society became transfixed in the American social consciousness and helped to create the modern welfare state Part of the well-respected American History series Integrates themes of class, race, ethnicity, and gender throughout, offering a concise and engaging account of a fascinating era in U.S. history that forever changed the relationship between a democratic government and its citizens
Rebels and Renegades : A Chronology of Social and Political Dissent in the United States Rebels and Renegadesexamines 350 years of history through the eyes of the uncompromising. Presented in nine clearly written chronological chapters, this comprehensive reference covers the major events and personalities in the history of extremism in the U.S. Besides chronicling the event itself, entries, ranging from 500 to 1000 words, include background information and historic effects. In addition to the chronology, sidebars highlight historical, biographical, cultural, and ethical aspects of the story, tying the past to the present. Topics include the influence of radical idea on the mainstream, the role of violence in radicalism, and the evolving relationship between radicals and the media. An extensive appendix of excerpts, transcripts, and full source documents round out the work. To see the Introduction, a list of detailed contents, a generous selection of sample pages, and more, visit the Rebels andRenegadeswebsite.
Reform in America "In discussing slavery and woman's rights, social security and the graduated income tax," writes Robert Walker, "the reformers have defined and redefined America." Recognizing in the history of reform a prime source for the discovery of cultural priorities, Walker seeks in Reform in America to organize the reform experience in a new way, so that its collective patterns can be seen. Reform in America identifies three principal streams of reform advocacy in American history. Politico-economic issues, the mainstream of reform, are exemplified by a detailed study of the politics of money from 1832 to 1913. Reform on behalf of special groups, the second major category, is illuminated by the examples of movements on behalf of blacks and women and by an examination of the civil liberties and civil rights movements, which again have been principally concerned with the extension of rights and liberties to particular groups. A third category is established by connecting communitarianism, utopianism, and visionary planning to form a tradition through which ideal alternatives are offered to the existing social order. Walker's interpretation minimizes the stark contrasts in social activity and underlines those continuous forces that have moved American society steadily in the direction of broadened political participation, increased concern for special groups, and a dynamic sequence of cultural goals. He thus draws our attention to what may be America's most lasting frontier -- the management of social change toward certain general objectives. The appreciation of reform, in the end, requires an adjusted perception of the national character, one that sees competitive individualism as at least balanced and perhaps outweighed by a demonstrated preoccupation with the common weal.
Reforming America: A Thematic Encyclopedia and Document Collection of the Progressive Era Presenting a detailed look at the individuals, themes, and moments that shaped this important Progressive Era in American history, this valuable reference spans 25 years of reform and provides multidisciplinary insights into the period. * Offers more than 200 entries on the most significant people, places, themes, and moments of the era in one collected two-volume work * Presents authoritative information by scholars and specialists in the period * Enables readers to gain a sense of the times through an understanding of the problems, viewpoints, and approaches that dominated the day
The Soul of America : The Battle for Our Better Angels #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature" have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and illuminating the courage of such influential citizen activists as Martin Luther King, Jr., early suffragettes Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, civil rights pioneers Rosa Parks and John Lewis, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Army-McCarthy hearings lawyer Joseph N. Welch, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. He writes about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the birth of the Lost Cause; the backlash against immigrants in the First World War and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s; the fight for women's rights; the demagoguery of Huey Long and Father Coughlin and the isolationist work of America First in the years before World War II; the anti-Communist witch-hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnson's crusade against Jim Crow. Each of these dramatic hours in our national life have been shaped by the contest to lead the country to look forward rather than back, to assert hope over fear--a struggle that continues even now. While the American story has not always--or even often--been heroic, we have been sustained by a belief in progress even in the gloomiest of times. In this inspiring book, Meacham reassures us, "The good news is that we have come through such darkness before"--as, time and again, Lincoln's better angels have found a way to prevail. Praise for The Soul of America "Appalled by the ascendancy of Donald J. Trump, and shaken by the deadly white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville in 2017, Meacham returns to other moments in our history when fear and division seemed rampant. He wants to remind us that the current political turmoil is not unprecedented, that as a nation we have survived times worse than this. . . . Meacham tries to summon the better angels by looking back at when America truly has been great. He is effective as ever at writing history for a broad readership."--The New York Times Book Review "This is a brilliant, fascinating, timely, and above all profoundly important book."--Walter Isaacson
Working Americans, 1880-2016: Social Movements Each volume in the widely-successful Working Americans series focuses on a particular type of American and illustrates what life was like for that group from the 1800s to the present time. The volumes are arranged into decade-long chapters, each introducing to the reader three individuals or families. Individual profiles examine life at home, life at work, life in the community, family finances and budget, cost of living and amusements. To further the reader's understanding of the time period, profiles are supplemented with national current events, economic profiles, an historical snapshot, news profiles, local news articles and illustrations derived from popular printed materials. Profiles cover a wide range of ethnic groups and span the entire country, providing a thorough examination of all types of Americans in that particular group. From a wealth of government surveys, social worker histories, economic data, family diaries and letters, newspaper and magazine features, these unique volumes assemble a rema
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