Women’s Activism Late 19 th century

Separate Spheres Public and political sphere for men only Private sphere of house and home for women

Woman’s Crusade Reform-minded women got involved in the temperance movement, forming the Woman’s Crusade, and turned to political action to end the sale of alcohol

WCTU – The Woman’s Crusade brought the issue of temperance back to the national spotlight and led to the formation of the WCTU, Woman’s Christian Temperance Union 1874

Founders of the WCTU Frances WillardAnnie Wittenmyer

Frances Willard Became president of the WCTU in 1879 and changed the direction of the organization Social action replaced prayer Viewed alcoholism as a disease rather than a sin Viewed poverty as the cause of alcoholism, not its result

National Woman Suffrage Association (1869) the first independent women’s rights organization in the US Susan B. Anthony Elizabeth Cady Stanton

National American Woman Suffrage Association A combination of earlier groups Elizabeth Cady Stanton elected its president Susan B. Anthony takes the helm

General Federation of Women’s Clubs Women’s clubs proliferated between 1860s and 1890s civic usefulness Study clubs

Jane Cunningham Croly Authored “The History of the Woman’s Club Movement in America”

Black Women’s Clubs Black women were not admitted to clubs with white women They formed their own

“Lifting as we Climb”

1892 Ida B. Wells launched an anti- lynching movement The myth of black attacks on white southern women masked the reality that mob violence had more to do with economics and the shifting social structure of the South than with rape

Southern Horrors Her voice brought the issue to national prominence

Founders of the NAACP She met with reprisal, but spurred the creation of the National Association of Colored Women in 1896 Later, she was a founder of the NAACP