History of Women in America
HIS 70603
Spring 2008
INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Rebecca Sharpless R.Sharpless@tcu.edu
Reed Hall 302A
Telephone 257-5645
Office hours: Wednesday 10-12, 2-4 and by appointment
BOOKS REQUIRED
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812.
Dublin, Thomas. Transforming Women's Work: New England Lives in the Industrial Revolution.
White, Deborah Gray. Ar’n’t I a Woman: Female Slaves in the Plantation South.
Massey, Sara, ed. Texas Women on the Cattle Trails.
Benson, Susan Porter. Counter Cultures Saleswomen, Managers, and Customers in American Department Stores, 1890-1940.
Reverby, Susan. Ordered to Care: The Dilemma of American Nursing, 1850-1945.
Strom, Sharon Hartman. Beyond the Typewriter: Gender, Class and the Origins of Modern American Office Work, 1900-1930.
Ruiz, Vicki L. Cannery Women, Cannery Lives: Mexican Women, Unionization, and the California Food Processing Industry 1930-1950. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987.
Jones, Lu Ann. Mama Learned Us to Work: Farm Women in the New South.
Kesselman, Amy. Fleeting Opportunities: Women in the Portland and Vancouver Shipyards during World War II and Reconversion.
Roth, Louise Marie. Selling Women Short: Gender and Money on Wall Street.
Blackwelder, Julia. Now Hiring: The Feminization of Work in the United States, 1900-1995.
Gubar, Susan. Rooms of Our Own.
INTRODUCTION
Women have, of course, always worked. Since the beginning of humanity they have borne and reared children, done much of the labor involved in keeping a household, and grown food crops. From the earliest European settlement in what is now the U.S., women worked as servants and, as slaves, in the fields. In addition, a small percentage of white women were entrepreneurs. Not until the Industrial Revolution, however, did women begin to increase their money-earning capabilities.
This course is an overview of women’s (mostly) waged work since 1800. During the period between the early republic and the present, women have expanded into most segments of the American economy. Technological developments such as the typewriter, furthermore, opened new types of employment for women. Class divisions increased with industrialization, and we will consider both working-class and professional-class women.
The twentieth century brought even more significant change to women’s working lives. Two large-scale wars brought the need for women’s work outside the home, and World War II in particular set in motion changes in female employment that continue to affect our lives today. Legislation in the 1960s and 1970s made discrimination illegal, but challenges for women remain. The final books in the course consider how far women have come and some of the costs of their gains in the workplace.
_________________________________________
COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, the student will:
1. Be familiar with the changes in American women’s public work over two centuries
2. Be familiar with the impact of race, ethnicity, class, and region on American women’s public work. .
3. Be familiar with the legal and social obstacles which women have faced in working for wages since 1800.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
The course grade is based on a combination of attendance and participation and a bibliographic essay OR a final examination.
Attendance and participation: 45 percent
We are a community of scholars together, and you are expected to attend each class and contribute meaningfully to each class discussion. Your contributions should consistently demonstrate thoughtful engagement with the material.
Final exam OR bibliographic paper: 55 percent
The student will have the option of writing a final exam or a bibliographic paper on a relevant topic.
The final exam will have questions similar to those that you might encounter on a qualifying exam. Essays that have no weaknesses and that would clearly pass the exam will receive a grade of A; essays that would likely pass but stimulate some negative discussion among the exam committee will receive a grade of B; and an essay that would not pass the exam will receive a grade no higher than C.
OR
The student will select a topic of interest to her or him in the history of women and work and will write a bibliographic essay of at least fifteen (15) pages. The essay must cover a minimum of ten books. If articles prove more relevant than books, then the student must use at least four articles for every book that is being substituted.
This assignment is due May 9, 2008.
Communication with the Outside World during Class Time
Please keep your attention focused inside the classroom during class time. Use of cell phones (including text messages), BlackBerries, wireless Internet, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, including devices of which the professor has not yet heard, is expressly and vehemently forbidden.
Statement on Disability Services at TCU
Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities in the Center for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, 11. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations. Further information can be obtained from the Center for Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at (817) 257-7486.
Academic Misconduct (Sec. 3.4 from the Student Handbook)
Any act that violates the academic integrity of the institution is considered academic misconduct. The procedures used to resolve suspected acts of academic misconduct are available in the offices of Academic Deans and the Office of Campus Life. Specific examples include, but are not limited to:
Cheating: Copying from another student’s test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files and listings; using, during any academic exercise, material and/or devices not authorized by the person in charge of the test; collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during a test or laboratory without permission; knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or other assignment unauthorized for release; substituting for another student or permitting another student to substitute for oneself;
Plagiarism: The appropriation, theft, purchase or obtaining by any means another’s work, and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one’s own offered for credit. Appropriation includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another’s work without giving credit therefore.
Collusion: The unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit.
Class Schedule and List of Readings
January 16 Introduction
January 23 Ulrich, A Midwife's Tale
January 30 Dublin, Transforming Women's Work
February 6 White, Ar’n’t I a Woman
February 13 Massey, Texas Women on the Cattle Trails
February 20 Benson, Counter Cultures
February 27 Reverby, Ordered to Care
March 5 Research Day
March 12 Spring Break
March 19 Strom, Beyond the Typewriter
March 26 Ruiz, Cannery Women, Cannery Lives
April 2 Jones, Mama Learned Us to Work
April 9 Kesselman, Fleeting Opportunities
April 16 Roth, Selling Women Short
April 23 Blackwelder, Now Hiring
April 30 Gubar, Rooms of Our Own