Download PDF Datastream
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Moving History Forward: American Women Activists, the Search for a Usable Past and the Creation of Public Memory, 1848-1998 By Nicole M. Eaton B.A., Brandeis University, 2001 M.A., Simmons College, 2004 A.M., Brown University, 2005 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at Brown University Providence, Rhode Island May 2012 © Copyright 2012 by Nicole M. Eaton This dissertation by Nicole M. Eaton is accepted in its present form by the Department of History as satisfying the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Recommended to the Graduate Council Date ____________ ___________________________________ Mari Jo Buhle, Advisor Date ____________ ___________________________________ Steven Lubar, Reader Date ____________ ___________________________________ Michael Vorenberg, Reader Approved by the Graduate Council Date ____________ ___________________________________ Peter M. Weber, Dean of the Graduate School iii Nicole Eaton, Curriculum Vitae December 15, 1978, New York, NY Education Brown University, Providence, RI Ph.D., History, May 2012 A.M., History, May 2005 Simmons College, Boston, MA M.A., Gender/Cultural Studies, May 2004 Brandeis University, Waltham, MA B.A. with honors in Fine Arts, May 2001 Syracuse University, Study Abroad Program Florence, Italy, Spring 2000 Awards Coordinating Council for Women in History Ida B. Wells Graduate Student Award, 2008 Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, Iowa State University Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics, Honorable Mention Award, 2007 The Huntington Library John Brockway Huntington Foundation Fellow, 2007 Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Margaret Storrs Grierson Scholar-in-Residence, 2007 Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University Dissertation Grant, 2007 Brown University University Dissertation Fellowship, 2008- 2009 Robert W. Morse Endowed Travel Fellowship, 2007-2008 Teaching Experience Simmons College, Adjunct Professor “Monuments and Memorials,” Graduate Seminar, Summer 2011 “Cold War Culture,” Graduate and Undergraduate Seminar, Fall 2010 Brown University, Graduate Assistant “Practice of History Workshop” Graduate Seminar, Fall 2008 Bristol Community College, Co- Instructor “Future History: Online Primary Sources in the American History Classroom,” TAH Grant Program, Graduate Seminar, Spring 2007 Brown University, Summer Studies, Co-Instructor “A-Bombs, Milkshakes and Love-Ins, 1940-1970,” 2009 and 2010 “Women’s History Through Popular Culture, 1945 to the present,” 2007 iv Brown University, Teaching Assistant “Europe Since the French Revolution,” Prof. Joan Richards, Spring 2007 “U.S. Politics and Society Since 1945,” Prof. Robert Self, Fall 2006 “Civil War and Reconstruction,” Prof. Michael Vorenberg, Spring 2006 “American History Survey to 1877,” Prof. Michael Vorenberg, Fall 2005 Simmons College, Teaching Assistant “Women and Art,” Prof. Joyce Cohen, Fall 2003 “Women in U.S. History Since 1890,” Prof. Laura Prieto, Spring 2003 Presentations Organization of American Historians, Annual Meeting, 2009 Paper entitled, “The Historical Is Political: Second Wave Feminism and the Popular Use of the Past” Mellon Graduate Workshop, Brown University, 2008-2009 Paper entitled, “Women, Public Memory and National Heritage Since 1976” New England Historical Association Fall Conference, 2008 Paper entitled, “Transforming the Landscape of History: Rose Arnold Powell and the Mount Rushmore Memorial” Schlesinger Library’s Summer Seminar on Gender History: Sequels to the 1960s, Radcliffe Institute For Advanced Study, Harvard University, 2008 Paper entitled, “The Historical is Political: Second Wave Feminism and the Search for a Usable Past” Annual Women’s Studies Conference at the University of Connecticut, 2008 Paper entitled, “‘Women’s History is Woman’s Right’: The Power of the Past in Creating a Politics of Empowerment” Graduate Humanities Forum, Annual Conference, University of Pennsylvania, 2008 Paper entitled, “‘Enough About History, Let’s Hear about Herstory’: The Search for a Usable Past and the Creation of a Feminist Identity during the Women’s Liberation Movement” Professional Service Planning Member, The 3rd Annual Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, Brown University, 2007 Graduate Student Reader, Brown Undergraduate Journal of History , History Department, Brown University, 2007 and 2008 Judge, National History Day Contest, Lincoln School, Providence, RI, 2005 - 2008 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have been possible without generous financial assistance. In particular, I would like to thank the Graduate School and Department of History at Brown University. There is no better way to think about history than deep in the sources and I was fortunate to have been given the space and time to really get to know my material through the generosity of two residential fellowships. The months I spent researching as a John Brockway Huntington Foundation Fellow at The Huntington Library and as a Margaret Storrs Grierson Scholar-in-Residence at the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College greatly improved this project. In addition, I would like to thank the Schlesinger Library and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study for supporting my research with a dissertation grant. Finally, this dissertation was awarded an Ida B. Wells Graduate Student Award from the Coordinating Council for Women in History and a Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics Honorable Mention Award from the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, Iowa State University that allowed me to continue my research and writing at crucial junctures. I appreciated the many archivists and public historians who took the time to offer advice and guidance on collections and sources that made researching 150 years of history a somewhat more manageable undertaking. In particular, I would like to thank Cathy Cherbosque at the Huntington Library, Vivien Rose of the National Park Service, Sarah Hutcheon and Ellen M. Shea at the Schlesinger Library, Kathy Jans-Duffy of the vi Seneca Falls Historical Society, Jennifer Krafchik of the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum and Amy Hague of the Sophia Smith Collection as well as the staff of the Library of Congress, New York University, University of Rochester, Smithsonian Institution Archives and the Rockefeller Library at Brown University. I feel fortunate to have had so many dedicated mentors shepherding this project. Michael Vorenberg helped shape my thinking about historical memory and provided feedback on the final draft of this dissertation. Steven Lubar directed my prelim field in public history, laying crucial groundwork for my research, and read multiple drafts of this dissertation, always with patience and encouragement that I greatly appreciated. Lastly, I am deeply grateful to my advisor, Mari Jo Buhle whose dedication to the field of women’s history has been an inspiration. It is a testament to Mari Jo’s long career that she is cited in this work as both a primary and secondary source and it is an honor to have been part of her last cohort of graduate students. Mari Jo shared and encouraged my interest in the history of women’s history and gave me free rein to think big. This dissertation was undoubtedly improved by her insightful commentary and unfailing faith in the project and my ability, even when I had doubts. Additionally, I am grateful to fellow researchers, historians and panelists who offered helpful feedback on my research including Rosalyn Baxandall, Judith Bennett, Julie Des Jardins, Kathy Peiss and Lisa Tetrault. I would also like to thank Nancy Cott and the workshop participants of the Schlesinger Library’s Summer Seminar on Gender History as well as Corey D.B. Walker and the members of the Mellon Graduate Workshop at Brown University for reading early chapter drafts of this dissertation. I am grateful to Nancy Scott of Brandeis University for introducing me (many years ago) to vii the history of women in art, an interest reflected in parts of this dissertation. I owe a special thank you to Laura Prieto for teaching me historical method, encouraging me on this path to the Ph.D. and for continuing to be a source of guidance both professionally and personally. Friendships throughout graduate school helped sustain me through the researching and writing of this dissertation. I would especially like to thank my “wingwomen,” Lara Couturier, Jessica Foley, Paige Meltzer and Stacie Taranto without whom I would not own a complete collection of Susan B. Anthony coins. I am grateful to have had such a wonderful writing group for their camaraderie as well as helpful criticism of my work. Additionally, over the course of this project, Natalina Earls, Christopher Jones, Mark Robbins, and Gabe Rosenberg provided companionship and feedback on drafts. Thanks are owed as well to my oldest and dearest friend, Liz Sherer, for the use of her couch on research trips to D.C. Lastly, thank you to my family. From two pounds to now, my parents Richard and Judith Eaton have tried their best to give me every opportunity to succeed in life, even with such premature beginnings. A special thanks to my mother for accompanying me to Seneca Falls and Rochester. To my brother Jason Eaton for his humor and role model as a writer and to my aunt Janie Gustafson who lovingly cared for my son each week so I could write. To Nathan Eaton Brooks—you who made