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The Development of Women's Activism in Kansas

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The Development of Women's Activism in Kansas RENDERING ASSISTANCE TO BEST ADVANTAGE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN’S ACTIVISM IN KANSAS CITY, 1870 TO WORLD WAR I A DISSERTATION IN Political Science and History Presented to the Faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by K. DAVID HANZLICK B.A., Washburn University of Topeka, 1982 M.A., George Washington University, 1990 Kansas City, Missouri 2013 © 2013 K. David Hanzlick ALL RIGHTS RESERVED RENDERING ASSISTANCE TO BEST ADVANTAGE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN’S ACTIVISM IN KANSAS CITY, 1870 TO WORLD WAR I K. David Hanzlick, Candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2013 ABSTRACT This study examines the rise of women’s activism in Kansas City between the opening of the Hannibal railroad bridge in 1869 and World War I. Women’s efforts over the course of nearly 50 years to emerge from the domestic sphere and claim space as full participants in the American polity through activism on behalf of benevolence, reform, and equality form the core of the study. The social construction of gender, class, and race, the effects of political philosophy in shaping responses to poverty, and the role of the political structure in shaping the interactions of local women with national organizations in an emerging Midwestern metropolis constitute its focus. Before the Civil War, Kansas City grew rapidly in spite of regional tensions and a Southern population that often mixed uneasily with the growing number of Northerners iii who passed through and often settled in the community. Both before and after the war, however, Kansas City business leaders championed a civic philosophy of unity over the divisiveness of politics and community development. The new, unformed frontier society provided an opening for women to found a single organization in the early 1870s that embraced the tripartite structure of women’s activism - benevolence, reform, and sexual equality. By the late 1870s, the affluent members gained prominence and narrowed its scope to include only benevolence. As a result, the organization contracted its activities to the gender-approved role of serving women and children. With the founding of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and other national organizations with local chapters, women interested in the reform and equality found outlets activism that increasingly pushed the limits of the feminine sphere, involved women in public leadership roles, and built support for equality through suffrage. Examining women’s activism from the vantage point of an emerging Midwestern metropolis provides new ways to look at women’s activism during this period. This study illuminates how women’s activism in Kansas City was shaped by, and helped to shape, women’s activism at the national level. It also informs the scholarly understanding of how activist women interacted with male-led organizations and political structures. iv APPROVAL PAGE The faculty listed below, appointed by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies have examined a dissertation titled “Rendering Assistance to Best Advantage: The Development of Women’s Activism in Kansas City, 1870 to World War I,” presented by K. David Hanzlick, candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, and certify that in their opinion it is worthy of acceptance. Supervisory Committee Max J. Skidmore, Ph.D. Department of Political Science, Committee Chair Diane Mutti Burke, Ph.D. Department of History John Herron, Ph.D. Department of History Stephanie Kelton, Ph.D. Department of Economics Greg Vonnahme, Ph.D Department of Political Science v CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................... x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... xi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 2. THE EXPLODING MIDWESTERN METROPOLIS: CARVING OUT A CITY ON THE BLUFFS, 1856 TO 1870 ....................................................................................... 23 Northerners Move In .................................................................... 28 The Role of Women and Racial/Ethnic Minorities in the Emerging City ........................................... 60 Eastern Ideas ................................................................................ 72 3. THE QUALITY AND EQUALITY OF MERCY IS STRAINED: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE FEMALE-LED GENERAL RELIEF AGENCY, 1870-1879 ............................................................................................. 87 The Quality and Equality of Mercy – 1870 to 1877 .................... 98 Rendering Assistance to Best Advantage .................................. 124 The Laborers are So Few and So Worn Responses to Relief, 1877 to 1880 ...................................... 140 4. BACK TO THEIR FRIENDS: THE RELUCTANT RESPONSE OF MALE-LED RELIEF, 1880 – WORLD WAR I ..................................................................... 157 vi Kansas City as Regional Hub .................................................... 166 Poor Relief in Kansas City ......................................................... 173 5. IDIOTS, IMBECILES, SLAVES AND WOMEN: WOMEN’S ACTIVISM IN KANSAS CITY, 1880 TO WORLD WAR I .................................................................. 235 The Three Strains of Women’s Activism in Kansas City ....................................................................... 244 Benevolence ............................................................................... 255 Reform ....................................................................................... 268 Equality ...................................................................................... 310 6. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 325 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 331 VITA ........................................................................................................................... 345 vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. City Limits of Kansas City, Missouri, 1853-1909 ............................................ 6 2. Sarah W. Coates .............................................................................................. 25 3. Town of Kansas, circa 1850 ............................................................................ 26 4. City of Kansas, circa 1860 .............................................................................. 33 5. African American Population in Kansas City, Missouri, 1910 ..................... 220 6. Clara Hoffman ............................................................................................... 237 7. Josephine Silone Yates .................................................................................. 251 8. Armour Home and Orphan’s Home, Kansas City, MO ................................ 257 9. YWCA Dormitory located at 7 th Street and Troost ....................................... 262 10. Mary Harmon Weeks .................................................................................... 304 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Slaves Owned by Slaveholders in Jackson by Number of Slaves Owned, 1850 and 1860. ...............................................................64 2. Number of Families Receiving Assistance from the Provident Association in 1885-86 by Nationality/Ethnicity ......................................180 3. Number of Families Receiving Assistance from the Provident Association in 1892-1893 year by Nationality/Ethnicity ..........................187 4. Provident Association Income, Donor Numbers, and Assistance Provided, 1892-1894 ...............................................................192 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BPW – Board of Public Welfare CLA – Catholic Ladies Aid Society CWL – Catholic Women’s League GFWC – General Federation of Women’s Clubs NACW – National Association of Colored Women NCJW – National Council of Jewish Women WCA – Women’s Christian Association WCTU – Women’s Christian Temperance Union YWCA – Young Women’s Christian Association YWCAKCK – Young Women’s Christian Association – Kansas City, Kansas YWCAKCMO – Young Women’s Christian Association – Kansas City, Missouri x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The path that led to the completion of this degree has been long – beginning in the fall of 2004. I had the opportunity to take a course in the American Presidency with Professor Skidmore as George W. Bush was running for a second term. That course, and the degree program as a whole, did not disappoint. I have been challenged and stretched as I have sought to become both a doctoral-level political scientist and historian. As an undergraduate at Washburn University, Harry Wade and Marvin Heath helped me develop my understanding of and passion for U.S. government. That interest was strengthened further by the master’s program at The George Washington University where Chris Deering skillfully led the introductory course in congressional
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