Progressives and Changing Gender Roles

TIP: Be sure to check the question on your assigned discussion board before doing these readings. I would like for everyone in the class to look at all the readings, but you may find it useful to focus on one or two assignments based on the question posed to your group.

Women played a significant role in social and political reform efforts during the Progressive Era. The following links take you to various websites that contain documents showing the importance of women on progressive politics. I encourage you to look at as many sites as you can. But, you will need to spend time closely examining at least one of the sites so that you can take part in this week's on-line debate on the course Discussion Board. You may chose any of the four (or more if you like).

Prohibition and Temperance
    Why did Prohibition take place in the United States and what role did women play in the debate over this progressive reform movement?

Female Suffrage    
Historians mark the beginning of the fight for female suffrage in the United States with the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/naw/nawstime.html Timeline on female suffrage in the U.S.)
What did women want in 1848?---read "The Declaration of Sentiments"

What were some of the arguments on each side of the debate? See:
Life Magazine Article, 1906

and Anti-Suffrage Argument, 1911

The Library of Congress has a wonderful collection of Women's Party photographs at:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/

What to know more?
UMBC doctoral student and historian for the Social Security Administration, Larry DeWitt, has created a very good website examining the links between Progressive Era reforms and the New Deal. http://www.larrydewitt.net/SSinGAPE/intro.htm