The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, 2008
... Laura Lovett , Assistant Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is... more ... Laura Lovett , Assistant Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth. Her research interests concern gender, race, and the family in twentieth-century America. ...
Fadia Hasan talks with Dr. Laura Lovett, Associate Professor, Department of History, University o... more Fadia Hasan talks with Dr. Laura Lovett, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Madeleine Charney, Research & Liaison Services Librarian, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries, about Mothers Out Front
Zora Neale Hurston once boasted that she was "the only Negro in the United States whose gran... more Zora Neale Hurston once boasted that she was "the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on the mother's side was not an Indian chief."' In the same breath, Hurston confessed that she was of mixed blood, but differed "from the party line in that I neither consider it an honor or a shame." This difference from "the party line," as she referred to African American perspectives on Native American ancestry, must have been especially striking to Hurston because she had helped to document race mixture during her brief stint as a research assistant to anthropologist Melville Herskovits. Hurston participated in a 1928 study of the ancestry and physical traits of African Americans, which surveyed 1,551 Howard University students and found that 27.2 percent claimed to have some Native American ancestry.2 Herskovits reports that he went to great lengths to adjust for the "distinct prestige value" of having Native American ancestry with...
American eugenicists in the 1930s saw housing programs as a vehicle for a new form of reproductiv... more American eugenicists in the 1930s saw housing programs as a vehicle for a new form of reproductive regulation promoting large families for the so-called fit while limiting family size among the so-called unfit. Housing developers, federal agencies, and real-estate associations used a eugenically informed racial hierarchy to justify redlining and preferential home loans that discriminated against African Americans and immigrants. Reframing this history from a feminist perspective, I argue that these practices were intended as a form of eugenic regulation that enforced women's role as reproducers. This reproductive agenda contributed to a legacy of race-based discrimination in housing, and disparities in wealth that resulted from those differences.
Mary ‘‘Yellin’’ Lease is best known for exhorting rural farmers in the United States to ‘‘raise l... more Mary ‘‘Yellin’’ Lease is best known for exhorting rural farmers in the United States to ‘‘raise less corn and more hell.’’ As the ‘‘Queen of the Populists,’’ Lease was arguably the most well-known orator on behalf of the People’s Party in the late nineteenth century. That said, historians’ treatment of Lease has often been limited to these more sensational aspects of her career as reported in the often partisan newspaper coverage in the era. Brooke Speer Orr’s biography offers a long awaited scholarly account of Lease’s life that grapples with her political and social activism long after the Populist moment had faded in the United States. Drawing on a rich array of primary sources, Orr’s biography follows the trajectory of Lease’s life from its beginnings in Pennsylvania in 1853 to its end in New York in 1933. Orr describes Lease’s radicalization as resulting in part from her experience as a child of Irish immigrants and in part from her experience as a woman on the Kansas frontier. Instead of treating Lease in isolation from other activists, Orr builds an important contrast between Lease and Annie Diggs, another prominent Populist orator. This comparison allows Orr to contextualize Lease’s role within the broader Populist movement and to differentiate Lease from other women reformers at the time. Lease’s blend of Irish Nationalism, Jeffersonian agrarianism, and advocacy of women’s rights and worker’s rights in the face of disenfranchising centralized government, business, and banking placed her on a distinctive political trajectory. The core of The ‘People’s Joan of Arc’ is a detailed account of Lease’s activities as a Populist. Tracing Lease’s politicization from her involvement in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union to the People’s Party, Orr’s systematic analysis of newspaper sources creates a more balanced view of Lease’s activities than has been offered to date. With the exception of a short term on the Kansas State Board of Charities, Lease eschewed public office, yet Orr masterfully charts the incredible influence that Lease had among Populists. In fact, Lease was so well regarded that she was seriously considered as a candidate for the Senate. Orr’s discussion of this period of Lease’s career is particularly insightful and illustrates how maternalist politics were effectively wielded by Lease and turned against her by her detractors. In the typical narrative regarding Lease, she fades away, much as the Populist party itself. To her great credit, Orr has uncovered Lease’s transition from Populist to Progressive and lays out the continuities in Lease’s political agenda after she leaves Kansas for New York City. Working for the New York World as a public speaker and as a private attorney, Lease’s
... Willard,''Tenth Annual Ad-dress, 1889.'' 60. Goldberg, An Army ofWomen; N... more ... Willard,''Tenth Annual Ad-dress, 1889.'' 60. Goldberg, An Army ofWomen; Nugent, The Tolerant Populists; Orr,''Mary Elizabeth Lease.'' 61. Bellamy, Looking Backward; see Chapter 5 on the Sphinx's Riddle. Lease, The Problem of Civilization Solved, 11. ...
The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, 2008
... Laura Lovett , Assistant Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is... more ... Laura Lovett , Assistant Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth. Her research interests concern gender, race, and the family in twentieth-century America. ...
Fadia Hasan talks with Dr. Laura Lovett, Associate Professor, Department of History, University o... more Fadia Hasan talks with Dr. Laura Lovett, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Madeleine Charney, Research & Liaison Services Librarian, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries, about Mothers Out Front
Zora Neale Hurston once boasted that she was "the only Negro in the United States whose gran... more Zora Neale Hurston once boasted that she was "the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on the mother's side was not an Indian chief."' In the same breath, Hurston confessed that she was of mixed blood, but differed "from the party line in that I neither consider it an honor or a shame." This difference from "the party line," as she referred to African American perspectives on Native American ancestry, must have been especially striking to Hurston because she had helped to document race mixture during her brief stint as a research assistant to anthropologist Melville Herskovits. Hurston participated in a 1928 study of the ancestry and physical traits of African Americans, which surveyed 1,551 Howard University students and found that 27.2 percent claimed to have some Native American ancestry.2 Herskovits reports that he went to great lengths to adjust for the "distinct prestige value" of having Native American ancestry with...
American eugenicists in the 1930s saw housing programs as a vehicle for a new form of reproductiv... more American eugenicists in the 1930s saw housing programs as a vehicle for a new form of reproductive regulation promoting large families for the so-called fit while limiting family size among the so-called unfit. Housing developers, federal agencies, and real-estate associations used a eugenically informed racial hierarchy to justify redlining and preferential home loans that discriminated against African Americans and immigrants. Reframing this history from a feminist perspective, I argue that these practices were intended as a form of eugenic regulation that enforced women's role as reproducers. This reproductive agenda contributed to a legacy of race-based discrimination in housing, and disparities in wealth that resulted from those differences.
Mary ‘‘Yellin’’ Lease is best known for exhorting rural farmers in the United States to ‘‘raise l... more Mary ‘‘Yellin’’ Lease is best known for exhorting rural farmers in the United States to ‘‘raise less corn and more hell.’’ As the ‘‘Queen of the Populists,’’ Lease was arguably the most well-known orator on behalf of the People’s Party in the late nineteenth century. That said, historians’ treatment of Lease has often been limited to these more sensational aspects of her career as reported in the often partisan newspaper coverage in the era. Brooke Speer Orr’s biography offers a long awaited scholarly account of Lease’s life that grapples with her political and social activism long after the Populist moment had faded in the United States. Drawing on a rich array of primary sources, Orr’s biography follows the trajectory of Lease’s life from its beginnings in Pennsylvania in 1853 to its end in New York in 1933. Orr describes Lease’s radicalization as resulting in part from her experience as a child of Irish immigrants and in part from her experience as a woman on the Kansas frontier. Instead of treating Lease in isolation from other activists, Orr builds an important contrast between Lease and Annie Diggs, another prominent Populist orator. This comparison allows Orr to contextualize Lease’s role within the broader Populist movement and to differentiate Lease from other women reformers at the time. Lease’s blend of Irish Nationalism, Jeffersonian agrarianism, and advocacy of women’s rights and worker’s rights in the face of disenfranchising centralized government, business, and banking placed her on a distinctive political trajectory. The core of The ‘People’s Joan of Arc’ is a detailed account of Lease’s activities as a Populist. Tracing Lease’s politicization from her involvement in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union to the People’s Party, Orr’s systematic analysis of newspaper sources creates a more balanced view of Lease’s activities than has been offered to date. With the exception of a short term on the Kansas State Board of Charities, Lease eschewed public office, yet Orr masterfully charts the incredible influence that Lease had among Populists. In fact, Lease was so well regarded that she was seriously considered as a candidate for the Senate. Orr’s discussion of this period of Lease’s career is particularly insightful and illustrates how maternalist politics were effectively wielded by Lease and turned against her by her detractors. In the typical narrative regarding Lease, she fades away, much as the Populist party itself. To her great credit, Orr has uncovered Lease’s transition from Populist to Progressive and lays out the continuities in Lease’s political agenda after she leaves Kansas for New York City. Working for the New York World as a public speaker and as a private attorney, Lease’s
... Willard,''Tenth Annual Ad-dress, 1889.'' 60. Goldberg, An Army ofWomen; N... more ... Willard,''Tenth Annual Ad-dress, 1889.'' 60. Goldberg, An Army ofWomen; Nugent, The Tolerant Populists; Orr,''Mary Elizabeth Lease.'' 61. Bellamy, Looking Backward; see Chapter 5 on the Sphinx's Riddle. Lease, The Problem of Civilization Solved, 11. ...
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