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Rural and Urban Ethnicity Construction in the Transnational Women's Suffrage Movement Anna M

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Rural and Urban Ethnicity Construction in the Transnational Women's Suffrage Movement Anna M University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects 5-2009 A Dash of Sufferage Spice: Rural and Urban Ethnicity Construction in the Transnational Women's Suffrage Movement Anna M. Peterson Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Peterson, Anna M., "A Dash of Sufferage Spice: Rural and Urban Ethnicity Construction in the Transnational Women's Suffrage Movement" (2009). Theses and Dissertations. 2494. https://commons.und.edu/theses/2494 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A DASH OF SUFFRAGE SPICE: RURAL AND URBAN ETHNICITY CONSTRUCTION IN THE TRANSNATIONAL WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT by Anna M. Peterson Bachelor of Arts, Concordia College, 2004 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Grand Forks, North Dakota May 2009 This thesis, submitted by Anna Peterson in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts from the University of North Dakota, has been read by the Faculty Advisory Committee under whom the work has been done and is hereby approved. This thesis meets the standards for appearance, conforms to the style and format requirements of the Graduate School of the University ofNorth Dakota, and is hereby approved. {J_ pJj 11 PERMISSION Title A Dash of Suffrage Spice: Rural and Urban Ethnicity Construction in the Transnational Women's Suffrage Movement Department History Degree Master of Arts In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University ofNorth Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my thesis work or, in her absence, by the chairperson of the department or the dean of the Graduate School. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this thesis or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................. V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................... vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................ I II. NORWEGIAN SYMBOLS OF PROGRESS: POETIC REALISM, WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE VICTORIES AND NORWEGIAN- AMERICAN HOMEMAKING MYTHS ........................................ 19 III. PRAIRIE SUFFRAGE SUPPORT: RURAL NORWEGIAN- AMERICAN IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION .................................... 48 IV. URBAN SCANDINAVIAN-AMERICAN IDENTITY: THE SCANDINAVIAN WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION'S RALL YING CRY ......................................................................... 73 V. CONCLUSION ................................................................. 107 APPENDICES .......................................................................................... 115 Appendix A: Methodology ....................................................... 116 Appendix B: Tables ................................................................ 120 REFERENCES ......................................................................................... 133 IV LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Grand Forks Votes for Women Club Ethnic Make-up ............................. 121 2. Grand Forks Votes for Women Club Member Ages ................................. 122 3. Grand Forks Votes for Women Club and the Number of Minor Children Living at Home in 1910 .................................................................... 123 4. Grand Forks Votes for Women Club Ethnicity and Occupation .................. 124 5. Grand Forks Votes for Women Club Sex, Ethnicity and Occupation ............ 125 6. Scandinavian Woman's Suffrage Association Ethnic Make-up .................. 126 7. Scandinavian Woman's Suffrage Association Member Ages ..................... 127 8. Scandinavian Woman's Suffrage Association Ethnicity and Sex .................. 128 9. Scandinavian Woman's Suffrage Association Members and the Number of Minor Children Living at Home in 1910 .......................................... 129 10. Scandinavian Woman's Suffrage Association Ethnicity and Occupation ......... 130 11. Scandinavian Woman's Suffrage Association Female Members, Occupation and Ethnicity ............................................................... 131 12. Scandinavian Woman's Suffrage Association Male Members, Occupation and Ethnicity ............................................................... 132 V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The process of crafting this thesis would not have been as challenging nor rewarding had it not been for the instruction I received at the University of North Dakota. In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to my thesis advisor, Dr. Cynthia Culver Prescott, for her guidance and encouragement. My committee members, Drs. Anne Kelsch and Janet Moen, provided me with constructive criticism that led to fruitful revisions. I am also humbled by the assistance of faculty members who had no formal obligation to my thesis. Thank you Drs. Gjellstad, Mochoruk and Caraher for always having an open door. The honing of my writing and critical thinking skills owe much to my scholarly peers. I am especially indebted to Dalton Little for arguing with me. His speculative nature is behind many of the best parts of my work. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the support ofmy family. My mom would never allow me to leave a project unfinished. She is the reason this thesis exceeds twenty pages. VI ABSTRACT The women's suffrage movement in Europe and the United States led to female enfranchisement in much of the West in the early twentieth century. Suffrage historiography, however, places too much emphasis on a middle-class history of urban white women's struggle to win the vote. This traditional scholarship not only lacks a thorough class-based analysis but also fails to examine ethnicity's role in the American women's suffrage movement as well as larger transnational connections. Research on the construction of Norwegian ethnicity and its corresponding influence on Norwegian-American support of women's suffrage contributes to filling this historiographical gap. In addition, the influence Norwegian-language literature and Norwegian suffrage successes had on rural and urban Norwegian-American homemaking myths shows how ethnic construction compounded with gender and class to create a progressive political identity. Transatlantic suffrage relationships propagated this identity formation and in part created and reinforced Norwegian ethnicity. My research investigates the extent to which ethnicity impacted the American women's suffrage movement and also draws attention to the differences between rural and urban Norwegian-American suffragists. The cases of rural Norwegian Americans VII living in Minnesota and North Dakota highlight that these men and women participated in progressive ethnic construction and implemented these ideals through their work in a Grand Forks Votes for Women Club. Urban Norwegian-American suffragists involved in the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Scandinavian Woman's Suffrage Association demonstrate that urban ethnics joined a suffrage club at a greater rate than their rural counterparts and utilized ethnic stereotypes to lobby for women's suffrage on a local and national level. These findings illuminate the similarities and differences between rural, agricultural Norwegian Americans and urban, "citified" Norwegian Americans. Traditional qualitative sources such as memoirs, newspaper articles, women's magazines and suffrage club records, provide insight into individual and group lives. This study also implements non-traditional qualitative source material such as literature and quantitative analysis to augment the traditional qualitative sources. Combining suffrage club membership records with the United States census data reveals the ethnic make-up, age, family and economic situations of suffrage club members. In urban Minneapolis, Minnesota and rural Grand Forks, North Dakota the creative and combined use of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies illustrates that a transatlantic exchange of progressive ideals contributed to Norwegian American ethnic construction, identity formation and participation in the women's suffrage movement. Vlll CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Although the United States has long been described as a nation of inunigrants, existing histories of American women's suffrage fail to reflect the nation's diverse population. Academics have long ignored ethnicity's role in the passage of the Nineteenth Constitutional Amendment in traditional suffrage histories and the overarching field of gender history. Likewise, inunigration
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