Civil Rights in the USA 1865-1992: Women
Political:
Suffrage campaign (post-war): got 19th A in 1920, valuable exp. BUT: AWSA vs NWSA 1869, but
make NAWSA 1890 (none are women’s groups) vs Alice Paul’s militant CUWS 1914. Divided: NAOWS
1911 Josephine Dodge anti-vote. Never a mass movement, largely white and middle class. 100k in
1915 = half temperance. Political interest remained limited (many voted same way as husband) and
representation only slowly increased. Excluded un-‘neutralised’ immigrants and AA women de facto
couldn’t assert their rights in South.
ERA campaign 1923-1969: BUT: nothing achieved, divided over where to go next after franchise, not
a mass movement. Although passed Congress in 1972, clear wouldn’t be ratified by 1979. 1972:
Schlafly founded National Committee to Stop ERA
New Deal: Frances Perkins SoLabor 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt joined WTUL BUT: only 9 women in
politics, Perkins appointment triggered negative reaction = indicative of unchanged attitudes.
Post-New Deal: BUT: influence diminished, ERA continued to be opposed post-war, only 11 women
in Congress in 1969, women lost influence in social policy as males increasingly becoming social
academics/social workers
1960s: BUT: women had the vote but still no powerful political voice
1970s-90s: more politically aware and those putting themselves forward for election 1968: 20 to
1990: 78. Steinem’s NWPC 1971 encouraged women into politics. 1992: YotW = 47 in House, 7 in
Senate. Parties finally courting female vote: Democrats 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act BUT:
ambitious women still tended to pursue careers in law/medicine. Republicans still opposed e.g. Bush
vetoed federal paid parental leave bill. 1992: limited progress, no significant power base in political
spheres.
Social:
Growth of middle class: less ‘daily grind’, birth rate for whites down BUT: not for religious/ethnics
Hull House 1889: Jane Addams, supported immigrants, influential pressure group re: slum housing
Temperance: galvanised women, WCTU (Frances Willard) 1874 1900: 7,000 branches, Women’s
Crusade 1873, ASL (not just women) 1893 allied with WCTU = 18th A in Dec 1917. WONPR (Pauline
Sabin) 1929, 1.5m members 1931 = 21st A in 1933, women played vital role BUT: restricted to social
sphere concept, predominately middle-class movement, other factors e.g. nativism (alcohol =
immigrants), anti-German (breweries)/ business pressures, lack of tax revenue
Birth control: Sanger clinic 1916 in NY, ABCL 1921, legal clinic 1923, 1924: ABCL = 27.5k members
BUT: only over 8 states, contraceptives still cost = bad for ethnics/poors, still under state law
1920s boom: like S1 point, credit and consumer goods, easier life for some (white) women BUT:
ethnics? ‘Flapper’ movement was not widespread social revolution, no lasting impact.
Great Depression: BUT: social conditions worsened and women expected to give up job
New Deal: BUT: policies did little/nothing to tackle discrimination
WWII: 75% women wanted to stay employed post-war = shifting attitudes towards separate spheres
BUT: Spock’s book 1946 sold 23m copies, and media reinforced spheres
New Feminism: 1963 Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique – erosion of “comfortable concentration
camps”, 1966 NOW formed, Aug 1970 Women’s Strike for Equality. Gloria Steinem Jan 1972 ‘Ms’,
200k circulation by end of 1972, separate spheres being eroded, 1986: 56% women considered
themselves feminists. BUT: new, controversial movement proved divisive – mass of normal women
didn’t see how demands affected their lives, alienated men and 1972: only 33% men supported
gender equality, only 40% in 1990. Movement fragmented e.g. Radicalesbians and The Feminists
(called for abolition of marriage).
Abortion: Friedan founded NARAL 1969 pro-abortion, Roe v Wade 1973 established right to abort.
Democrats v Republicans, brought the issue into political spheres – still rages today. BUT: divided =
Phyllis Schlafly NRLC
Economic:
