1. p
Women in Public Life

2. Objectives
Describe the growing presence of women in the work force at the turn of the 20th century
Identify leaders of the woman suffrage movement
Explain how women suffrage was achieved

3. Women in the Work Force Farm Women Women in Industry
Southern and Midwestern
Cooking
Producing clothing
Laundering
Raising livestock
Plant
Harvest
1 in 5 women working
~ 50% working in textiles
Pay gap
New Opportunities
Offices
Stores
Schools
1890 more women HS grads than men

4. Women in the Work Force No need for formal education Domestic Work
2 million African-American women
1,000s migrated to the cities to find domestic work
~70% of women employed in 1870 were domestic workers

5. Women Lead Reform Women in Higher Education Women in Reform
Vassar College – 1865
Smith College – 1875
Wellesley College – 1875
Marriage no longer the only option
~50% of college educated women did not marry
Many began to push for social reform
“social housekeeping”
Housing reform
Educational improvement
Food and drug
National Association of Colored Women (NACW)
“the moral education of the race with which we are identified”
Set up
Nurseries
Reading rooms
kindergardens

6. Women Lead Reform
A Three-Part Strategy for Suffrage
Push for national constitutional amendment to grant women the vote
Test the 14th Amendment
Are women citizens? – 150 cases
Convince state legislatures to grant women the right to vote
Wyoming (1869) Utah, Colorado, & Idaho (1890)