MIDWESTERN ANARCHIST WOMEN WRITERS of the NINETEENTH CENTURY by Michelle M
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MIDWESTERN ANARCHIST WOMEN WRITERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY by Michelle M. Campbell A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English West Lafayette, Indiana May 2019 2 THE PURDUE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL STATEMENT OF COMMITTEE APPROVAL Dr. Christian Knoeller, Chair Department of English Dr. Bill V. Mullen Department of American Studies Dr. Jesse Cohn Department of English, Purdue University Northwest Dr. Derek Pacheco Department of English Approved by: Dr. Manushang Powell Head of the Graduate Program 3 To Rueben, who makes sure I don’t take myself too seriously 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I’d like to thank my chair, Dr. Christian Knoeller. Christian has taught me, by example, humility and grace in my research and writing. I knew going into my doctoral studies that I wanted an advisor and mentor for whom I did not feel afraid to write, and I knew the moment that Christian gave me feedback on my first piece of writing that I had found the right person. Not only that, but by letting me take the wheel (and letting me be critical enough for the both of us), Christian has given me the space I knew I needed to become a researcher who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to fight for it. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Bill V. Mullen, Dr. Jesse Cohn, and Dr. Derek Pacheco. Bill and Jesse have been enthusiastic supporters of all facets of my radical research since I have known them, and they have helped to guide and shape my idea of what it means to think about hidden and radical narratives, especially in the United States. Derek gave me the courage to make this project as interdisciplinary as I knew it could be. Julie Knoeller, an unofficial committee member, made sure I remained strong. I have two other “unofficial committees” to whom thanks must be rendered. My anarchist studies community, that has assembled through various social media platforms and correspondences, and my Midwestern Studies community. Scholars like Shawn Wilbur, Nathan Jun, Robert Helms, Vishwam Heckert, and various others associated with the North American Anarchist Studies Network and Anarchist Studies Network have helped to encourage and shape many projects related to radical and anarchist women. Without Shawn Wilbur, I may have never come to seriously consider Lois Waisbrooker nor wise up to the expansive and diverse writing career of Lizzie Swank Holmes. My Midwestern Studies community, mostly formed through the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature and the Midwestern History Association, has always received my work with genuine interest and encouragement. My connection with Midwestern Studies scholars like Marcia Noe, Marilyn Atlas, Sara Kosiba, Patricia Oman, Ron Primeau, Andy Oler, Ross Tangedal, Jon Lauck, and others has been one of the greatest factors in my formation as a scholar. For my conscious growth as a writer, I must acknowledge Dr. Vicki R. Kennell and my Purdue Writing Group. By working closely with Vicki through my various assistantships with the Purdue Writing Lab, I learned how to understand writing as a functional medium. Vicki taught me 5 invaluable lessons about the relationship between clarity of thought and clarity of structure, and I was honored to work with her in developing a guide for faculty about working with graduate student writing. Although completely unrelated to this dissertation, it was completed in tandem with this project, and it felt to me like a chapter of a second dissertation that represented another of my wide-ranging teaching and scholarly interests. My Purdue Writing Group, consisting over time of Rachelle Henderson, Tiffany Montoya, Alejandra Ortega, and Erika Gotfredson, was instrumental in the competition and revision of this dissertation and related projects. For my conscious growth as someone who not only researches radical lives but aims to live one, I must acknowledge the Purdue Social Justice Coalition and the collective of Occupy Purdue. Graduate education shouldn’t be just about what you learn in the classroom or in the archives, and it should never be just about “getting the job.” I treasure the time I spent with my comrades and the new ways they helped me see the world. Several colleagues have guided me along in this process, checking in and sharing my excitement in the research. Thanks go to Dr. Dan Jones, Dr. Kris Acheson-Clair, and Annette Benson at Purdue University’s Center for Intercultural Learning, Mentorship, Assessment, and Research, and my newest colleagues, Bridget Fletcher, Minerva Matos-Garner, Sue Mathias, Marcie Pachino, and Angus Bowers at Duke University’s Graduate Communications and Intercultural Programs within the Pratt School of Engineering. My “Super Squad” friends never failed to provide time to step away and be human. Thanks go to Margaret Sheble, Liz Boyle, Dan Froid, Mitch Hobza, Aidan Holtan, Alejandra Ortega, Vanessa Iacocca, Allyn Pearson, Erika Gotfreson, Libby Chernouski, Marc Diefenderfer, and Rachel Bonini for good laughs, good gossip, and good comradery. My partner, Rueben Timmers, was a constant source of support, and he never failed to dry my tears or grant my requests to leave me alone, both unfortunate byproducts of this process. 6 Final thanks go to all the cats, some who have gone on to live with other humans, and some who still reside in our domicile, who offered their unwavering support in times of writing and in times of naps, both of equal importance to scholarly endeavors. 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1. Introduction: Genuine Students .......................................................................... 10 1.1 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 2. Politics and Place: What is Anarchism? What is the Midwest? ......................... 20 2.1 Anarchism in the Nineteenth-Century United States ..................................................... 21 2.1.1 Communalist Anarchism ......................................................................................... 22 2.1.2 Individualist Anarchism .......................................................................................... 24 2.1.3 Liberty and Lucifer the Light-Bearer ...................................................................... 27 2.2 Theories of the Midwest and Midwestern Literature ..................................................... 32 2.3 Nineteenth-Century Midwestern Anarchist Women Writers ......................................... 41 2.4 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER 3. Spheres of Oppression: Socialist and Individualist Economic Emancipation .... 53 3.1 Economics as Violence ................................................................................................... 56 3.2 Economics as Violence: A Response ............................................................................. 62 3.3 Economics as Freedom: Individualist Views and Economic Freedom .......................... 67 3.4 The Future Economic Order ........................................................................................... 79 3.5 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 83 CHAPTER 4. Free Women and Fit Children: Anarchism, Free Love, and Eugenics ............... 85 4.1 Defining Eugenics and Free Love .................................................................................. 87 4.2 The Rhetoric of Free Love ............................................................................................. 92 4.3 Domestic Fiction and Individualism .............................................................................. 94 4.4 Waisbrooker: Helen Harlow’s Vow (1870), Perfect Motherhood (1889), and A Sex Revolution (1893) ...................................................................................................................... 95 4.5 Finch Kelly: Frances (1889) and On the Inside (1890) ............................................... 103 4.6 Swank Holmes: Hagar Lyndon (1893) ......................................................................... 110 4.7 Works Cited .................................................................................................................. 119 CHAPTER 5. Martyrs and Ghosts: Propaganda of the Deed, Spiritualism, and Print Culture 121 5.1 The Romantic Roots of Anarchism .............................................................................. 123 5.2 Anarchist Martyrs ......................................................................................................... 125 8 5.3 Anarchist Ghosts .......................................................................................................... 131 5.4 Replacing the Orthodoxy .............................................................................................. 134 5.5 Martyrdom and Spiritualism in Nineteenth-Century Anarchist Print Culture ............. 139 5.6 Works Cited .................................................................................................................. 149 CHAPTER 6. Coda: Returning Home ....................................................................................