Women’s Movement Connected to the Progressive Era

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Table of Contents

Women Movement in the Progressive Era
Settlement House Workers
Suffrage Movement
Labor Unions
Conclusion
References

Towards the end of the 19th century, American society underwent numerous changes, which caused various social problems, especially due to industrialization in what was termed the Progressive Era. Therefore, politicians, journalists, and professionals came together to address some of these issues. Women activists at the time seized the opportunity to assert the important role that women could play in the advancement of society. The major problems that concerned women at the time included working under dangerous conditions, child labor, poor public health and safety, and lack of suffrage rights. Therefore, women were the best-suited candidates to address these issues through maternalist politics. This paper discusses how the women’s movement connected to the Progressive Era.

Women Movement in the Progressive Era

The reforms that were taking place during the Progressive Era coupled with emerging opportunities in the job market and changing lifestyles created an enabling environment for the thriving of the women’s movement. For instance, growing business due to industrialization opened new opportunities for women in the workplace and exposed women to the factory setup away from their homes. Additionally, mass production of goods created household conveniences thus availing more leisure time for women to engage in politics of the day. Importantly, educational opportunities allowed women to pursue careers of their choice and leave their traditional roles as homemakers (Durst, 2005). However, the male-dominated patriarchal system thwarted women’s efforts to assert their place in society. The Victorian view at the time, that women belonged to the kitchen, compounded the problem.

As such, women could not vote and in most states, they could not sign contracts or own property without the direct involvement of their husbands. In general, women had to overcome the deeply entrenched view that they were intellectually inferior to men. Therefore, they started organizing themselves to agitate for recognition and equal opportunities (Durst, 2005). Some of the functional women movements of the early 20th century included the Woman’s Christian Temperance Movement, the National Association of Colored Women, the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, and the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Notably, Jane Addams formed Chicago’s Hull-House to educate and support local immigrants. The objectives of the movement converged at addressing problems that women faced at the time as part of promoting the ultimate agendas of the Progressive Era as discussed in the next section.

Settlement House Workers

Jane Addams was one of the college-educated women to openly revolt against patriarchal systems of the early 1900s. Given that family structures were deliberately designed to limit women’s freedom, she founded the famous Hull-House in Chicago to accommodate and encourage ambitious women who chose to remain single or delay marriage. The center educated women about their rights before the focus shifting to politics to champion the end of child labor and fair treatment of immigrants on top of pushing for better working conditions. In 1912, Jane Addams addressed dignitaries at Bull Moose Party’s convention – the party was under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt (Addams, 1931). Other key players at the center focused on different areas to advance women’s issues, which formed part of the broad agenda for the Progressive Era. For instance, Florence Kelly pursued the issue of poor working conditions for women, while Lillian Wald majored in improving public health care in the region. According to Muncy (1991), women pioneered the establishment of legitimate professions for themselves and supported each other to ensure their voices were heard. Ultimately, Jane Addams together with like-minded individuals took the opportunity presented by the Progressive Era to advance women’s rights at a time when society was opposed to such changes.

Suffrage Movement

In the early 1900s, women in many states across the US were not allowed to vote, and this was one of the main agendas of the Progressive Era – to ensure that everyone in society, including women, enjoyed the unalienable rights espoused in the Constitution. Therefore, different women organizations joined hands to advance the confirmation of women’s rights to vote. This goal was realized in 1920 with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment allowing women to participate in the voting process as a democratic right enshrined in the constitution (Thurner, 1993). The major women movement groups concerned with the issue of suffrage were the National American Women Suffrage Association and the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage. Even though these organizations existed long before the start of the Progressive Era, they were revitalized during this period because even some men who had opposed the idea of women voting had softened their stance. Moreover, other powerful organizations, specifically the Congressional Union, which was founded in 1913, injected fresh blood into the quest to advance women’s suffrage rights. Therefore, by aligning with the agendas of the Progressive Era, the women’s movement seeking women’s rights to vote became part of this wave of change.

Labor Unions

As aforementioned, before the start of the Progressive Era, women were treated as lesser human beings and subjected to poor and dangerous working conditions. Some women, such as Mary Jones, joined politics, especially the Socialist Party, to agitate for better working conditions for women (Fetherling, 1974). The majority of women worked in the coal mining industry where conditions were deplorably characterized by poor pay and long working hours. However, women were not the only ones subjected to such horrible working conditions as the problem affected all workers irrespective of race, gender, and age. Therefore, the women’s movement joined forces with other like-minded organizations to clamor for better working conditions and higher wages as part of the Progressive Era agenda. For example, Mary Jones led thousands of workers during the 1911-1912 and 1913-1914 West Virginia and Colorado strikes respectively (Fetherling, 1974). Another influential labor union at the time was the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and together with other interested unions and movement joined hands to agitate for workers’ rights. Therefore, the women’s movement under the banner of labor unions became important players during the Progressive Era.

Conclusion

Women’s movement existed long before the start of the Progressive Era in the late 19th century. However, as this wave of change unfolded the movement became key players in the advancement of the agendas of the Progressive Era. Almost all the issues that these groups sought to advance were constituents of the Progressive Era manifesto. The main issues that concerned women at the time were the deeply entrenched patriarchal societal norms that viewed them as lesser human beings. As such, women’s movements, such as the National American Women Suffrage Association and the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage became relevant within the larger manifesto of the Progressive Era. In other words, the women’s movement blended into the Progressive Era because this period marked increased calls for an equal society that focused on the welfare of human beings.

References

Addams, J. (1931). The second twenty years at Hull-House. New York, NY: Macmillan.

Durst, A. (2005). Of women, by women, and for women: The day nursery movement in the Progressive-era United States. Journal of Social History 39(1), 141-159.

Fetherling, D. (1974). Mother Jones: The Miners’ Angel. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

Muncy, R. (1991). Creating a female domain in American reform 1890-1935. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Thurner, M. (1993). Better citizens without the ballot: American anti-suffrage women and their rationale during the Progressive Era. Journal of Women’s History, 5(1), 33-60.

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Women’s Movement Connected to the Progressive Era

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