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Australian Women in the United States, 1910–1960

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Australian Women in the United States, 1910–1960 TRAVELLING TO TOMORROW: AUSTRALIAN WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES, 1910–1960 Anne Rees February 2016 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University © Copyright by Anne Rees, 2016 THESIS CERTIFICATION I declare that this thesis, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the School of History at the Australian National University, is wholly my own original work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged and has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Anne Rees February 2016 ABSTRACT ‘I always find a visit to the United States exhilarating,’ wrote Dorothy Jenner in her autobiography. ‘They are light years ahead of us, sometimes on the wrong foot, but more often on the right one.’ For this Sydney-born actress and journalist, who visited America on five occasions between 1915 and 1967, venturing across the Pacific was not just a physical journey but an exercise in time travel, an opportunity to launch herself into a new and better world to come. An unorthodox but far from unique figure, Jenner was one of thousands of twentieth-century Australian women who headed abroad in search of wider horizons but chose to deviate from the well-worn path to London. Travelling instead to the United States, they pursued study, work and adventure in a nation that many, like Jenner, saw as charging ahead along an imagined highway into the future. This thesis tells the story of these transnational Australians and positions them as actors in the development of Australian-US relations. Drawing upon correspondence, diaries, oral history, periodicals, travel writing and institutional archives, it argues that such travellers were among the greatest beneficiaries and most zealous agents of Australian engagement with the United States throughout the first half of the twentieth century. During an era in which few Australians moved outside the British world, America’s modernity—and, in particular, its modern gender relations—drew career-minded women to its shores and offered them persuasive evidence that the American model was worthy of emulation. Part of a growing body of scholarship concerned with Australia’s engagements with the Asia- Pacific region, these findings illuminate the density of transpacific ties during an era of sustained imperial sentiment, and point to a significant but little recognised gendered dimension to the turn towards the United States. At the same time, this research speaks to the emergent reorientation of transnational American history towards the Pacific world, demonstrating that the US-Asian connections highlighted in recent scholarship were accompanied by myriad interactions with the Antipodes. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis, and the debts it has incurred, date back to an email sent in August 2009. Midway through my Honours year at the University of Melbourne, I contacted Angela Woollacott about the prospect of applying for a Summer Research Scholarship at the ANU. When she replied at length only hours later, full of enthusiasm for my professed interest in transnational women, it was clear I had found a supervisor with a difference. In the years since, that initial assessment has been more than validated. Angela displays an astonishing level of care for her students. She gave me hours of her time that first summer, stayed in contact while I completed a Masters in London, and enticed me back to Canberra for a PhD. From her forensic examination of drafts and quick response to emails, to her willingness to linger over coffee and host annual Christmas celebrations, Angela has guided my development as a historian with unfailing dedication and kindness. Her intellect is fearsome, but just as impressive are her generosity, tact, rigour and industry. She manages the academic juggling act with unusual grace, remaining committed to teaching, supervision and service alongside the demands of research and administration. It has been a privilege to work alongside such an eminent and well-rounded scholar, and learn my trade from among the best in the business. Thank you. Warm thanks are also due to my other panel members: Carolyn Strange, Desley Deacon and Jill Matthews. Carolyn has a talent for sounding out weaknesses in both analysis and prose, and her penetrating insights have done much to nudge my work in the right direction. She has been most generous with her time, and provided invaluable feedback on a late-stage draft within a matter of days. Desley shared her extensive knowledge of transpacific theatrical networks, and her enthusiasm for my subject was a boon whenever my own was flagging. Jill stepped in with words of encouragement, judiciously mixed with uncompromising critique. ii Carroll Pursell, finally, has been a supervisor in all but name, and his twinkling eyes and sage advice never fail to gladden the heart. In early 2013 I spent four pleasurable months as a Visiting Researcher at the Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies at Georgetown University, and am indebted to Patty O’Brien, Alan Tidwell and Marie Champagne for extending a warm welcome during my stay. That visit to the United States was funded by an Australian government Endeavour Research Fellowship, and I would like to thank my case manager Vanessa Wright for her assistance with travel logistics. My interview subjects were kind enough to welcome me into their homes and lives. It was an honour to meet such inspiring women and discuss their experiences in America. I am also grateful to Philip Moore for granting permission to access his mother’s papers at the National Library of Australia, and sharing a number of photographs. Archivists and librarians have gone out of their way to help with my research. Noteworthy assistance was provided by Charles Slaats at the National Film and Sound Archive, Karen Kukil at Smith College, Moreen Dee from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Nancy Adgent at the Rockefeller Archive Center, Andrew Gansky at the Harry Ransom Center, Jennifer Comins at Columbia University, and Ralph Stahlberg and Katie O’Laughlin of the Los Angeles Law Library. Wendy Wintman interrupted her busy schedule to supervise my archival foraging, shared her encyclopaedic knowledge of Consumer Union history, and drove me home on a bitter January night. Thanks also to Adam Chong for providing a bed in Los Angeles. It has been a delight to research and write this thesis alongside the community of brilliant scholars that compose the ANU School of History. The collegial atmosphere inside the Coombs building, and ongoing intellectual engagement between faculty and postgraduate students, have been a great buttress over the past four years. In particular I wish to thank Alessandro Antonello, Alexis Bergantz, Cath Bishop, Frank Bongiorno, Robyn Curtis, Karen Downing, Karen Fox, Christian Goeschel, Brett Goodin, Nicholas Halter, Benjamin Huf, Meggie Hutchison, John Knott, Pam Lane, Amanda Laugesen, Tristan Moss, Shannyn iii Palmer, Laura Rademaker, Blake Singley and Karen Smith. Outside the School of History, the ANU Gender Institute has provided intellectual community, and I am indebted to the members of the Gender and History Node for their feedback on an early draft. I have also benefited from the advice of historians beyond the ANU, and I am grateful to Nancy Cushing, Susann Liebich, Victoria Kuttainen, Shane White, Elaine Tyler May, Lisa Samuels, Sarah Graham, Richard White, Alice Garner, Paul Kramer, Frances Steel, Sarah Steinbock-Pratt, Helen Bones, Sofia Eriksson, Sally Ninham and Jeannine Baker for their assistance with this project. My postgraduate years have been much enhanced by membership of the Lilith Editorial Collective. Thanks to the other Collective members for their comradery and good cheer in the face of Skype frustrations, bird droppings and looming deadlines. It was also a pleasure to serve as Australian Historical Association Postgraduate Representative alongside the formidably organised Kate Matthew. For reminding me of the pleasures of life beyond the Coombs building, I thank Imogen Mathew, Alex Mathew, Liz Errol, Rowan Savage, Jeevika Makani, Lucy Maxwell, the HB Bookclub members, Sally Stuart, Clancy Reid, Elizabeth Redman, James Remington, Damien Bruckard, Tracy Deng, Paul Rees (who also shared his mapping skills), Archie Rees, Heidi Rees, Anna Nicols, David Barda, Kat Pshenichner, Stephanie Jacobs, Michael Drake, David Fettling, and most especially, Daniel McNamara and his family. This thesis is dedicated to my mother Robyn Lansdowne, who provided my first lessons in history and feminism, and my father Neil Rees, who found his own tomorrow in the United States. Their example, as humans and scholars, inspires my own strivings. iv CONTENTS Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Abbreviations vi Illustrations vii Introduction: Light Years Ahead 1 1. A Woman’s Paradise 39 Gender Relations and the Modern American Woman 2. An Education in Race 81 Colour Lines, Blood Brothers and International Community 3. Bursting with New Ideas 133 Modernising the Professions 4. Standing up in the Great World 171 The Highs and Lows of Modern Culture 5. A Season in Hell 221 The Hustle of Modern America 6. Up in the Air 261 Mobility Within and Beyond the United States 7. So This Is Home 307 Return and Reform Conclusion: Australia from 42nd Street 339 Bibliography 349 v ABBREVIATIONS AAUW American Association of University Women ABC Australian Broadcasting Commission ACER Australian Council for Educational Research AFUW Australian Federation
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