American Business Women, 1890-1930: Creating an Identity Candace A
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Winter 1997 American business women, 1890-1930: Creating an identity Candace A. Kanes University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Kanes, Candace A., "American business women, 1890-1930: Creating an identity" (1997). Doctoral Dissertations. 1993. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1993 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. f INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type o f computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. AMERICAN BUSINESS WOMEN, 1890-1930: CREATING AN IDENTITY BY CANDACE A. KANES B.A., Ohio Wesleyan University, 1968 M.A., State University of New York at Buffalo, 1992 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History December, 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9819676 Copyright 1997 by Kanes, Candace A. All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9819676 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED c 1997 Candace A. Kanes Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation has been examined and approved. Dissertation Director, Dr. J. William Harris, Associate Professor, History S Dr. Lucy SalyerAssociate ^ro^fessor. History r Dr. Ellen FitVgpatrick, Associate Professor, History Dr. Sarah Way Shermcftrr Associate Professor, English Dr. Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, Professor, American Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Researching and writing a dissertation can challenge both one's intellect and one's perseverance. This project did both and I would like to thank the many people who helped me through the process, although I will not even try to name them all. Some deserve special note. For their assistance in intellectual challenge, support, and inspiration, I would like to thank especially Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy at SUNY at Buffalo, J. William Harris, Lucy Salyer and Sarah Sherman at the University of New Hampshire, and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, formerly of UNH. Employees of Zonta International in Chicago and BPW/USA in Washington, D.C. deserve special thanks for opening their records to me and permitting me to spend many hours and weeks in their offices. The archivists at the University at Buffalo Archives, Shonnie Finnegan and Chris Densmore, also were unusually helpful in directing me to the Zonta collection, sending me materials, and helping me locate to related resources. The Graduate School at the University of New Hampshire provided funding for research, travel, and writing and the History Department provided additional financial support as well as intellectual and moral support. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Also helping me to persevere through my long and belated foray into graduate work were family members Brian and Betsey Kanes and Douglas Kanes. A special note of thanks goes to Henry D'Alessandris for his generosity, enthusiasm and polarity sessions. Tracey Kassman and John Hocieniec and Marilee and Roger Cole provided housing and friendship on what must have seemed to them interminable research trips. And then there were the many people, friends and acquaintances, who hired me to paint their houses or do various home repair chores. My deepest appreciation goes to Barbara Murphy for untold support of many kinds, patience, and for enduring stories, complaints, excitement, poverty, and other varied aspects of the Ph.D. process. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................ iv LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ viii ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................................ix CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION "BUSINESS WOMEN AND WOMEN IN BUSINESS".......................................1 Women in the work force........................................................................................10 The era of business ..................................................................................................17 The New Woman? ................................................................................................. 25 The organizing craze ............................................................................................. 29 The business of being women ...............................................................................36 II. "FEARLESSLY, PERSISTENTLY AND IN A WOMANLY WAY": THE NASCENT BUSINESS WOMAN...............................................................46 Mary Seymour and the BWJ .................................................................................47 The first business women’s associations ............................................................... 85 The Colored Business Women’s C lub ...................................................................93 The Business Woman's M agazine....................................................................... 105 in. "AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAD COME": BUSINESS WOMEN ORGANIZE..................................................................... 114 The Woman’s Association of Commerce ........................................................... 115 The National Federation of BPW Clubs ............................................................. 129 Altrusa and Quota ................................................................................................148 Zonta .................................................................................................................... 151 Membership: class and ra c e ................................................................................. 161 IV. MERCHANTS, MANAGERS AND MILLINERS OR "WHAT CONSTITUTES A BUSINESS WOMAN?" .......................................177 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V. "TO GROW BIG IN BUSINESS WAYS AND SOCIAL WAYS": THE DUAL FUNCTIONS OF BUSINESS WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS . 238 Business and service ........................................................................................... 245 The question of protective legislation................................................................. 259 The spirit of good fellowship...............................................................................273 VI. "THE ALMOST INEVITABLE STRUGGLE BETWEEN TWO WORLDS": BUSINESS WOMEN AND WOMANHOOD ...................................................291 Clothes make the woman ..................................................................................... 301 Marriage, singlehood and careers .......................................................................309 Fem inism ..............................................................................................................331