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Meltzer Dissertation FINAL Maternal Citizens: Gender and Women’s Activism in the United States, 1945-1960 By Paige L. Meltzer B.A., Hamilton College, 1998 A.M., Binghamton University, State University of New York, 2001 A.M., Brown University, 2004 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 2010 © Copyright 2010 by Paige L. Meltzer This dissertation by Paige L. Meltzer 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, Avisor Date ____________ ___________________________________ Elliott Gorn, Reader Date ____________ ___________________________________ Robert Self, Reader Approved by the Graduate Council Date ____________ ___________________________________ Sheila Bonde, Dean of the Graduate School iii Paige L. Meltzer, Curriculum Vitae May 11, 1976, Rochester, New York Education Brown University, Providence, RI Ph.D. Candidate, Department of History; Spring 2010 M.A. in U.S. History; Spring 2004 Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY M.A. in U.S. Women’s History; Winter 2001 Hamilton College, Clinton, NY B.A. with honors in History and German; Spring 1998 Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa Goethe Institute, Murnau, Germany; Winter 1997 University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Spring 1997 Awards University Dissertation Fellowship, Brown University; Fall 2008 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women Dissertation Grant, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University; Summer 2007 to Summer 2008 Women’s History and Resource Center Research Grant, General Federation of Women’s Clubs; Summer 2006 to Summer 2007 University Travel Fellowship, Brown University; Fall 2006 to Spring 2007 Summer Enrichment Grant, Brown University; Summer 2004 to Summer 2006 Graduate Education Award, Binghamton University; Fall 1999 to Fall 2000 University Summer Award, Binghamton University; Summer 2000 Teaching Experience Lecturer, History and Literature Program, Harvard University; Fall 2009 to present Instructor, “U.S. History since 1877,” History Department, University of Rhode Island; Summer 2007 Co-Instructor, “U.S. Women’s History through Popular Culture, 1945 to the present,” Summer Studies, Brown University; Summer 2007 Teaching Assistant, History Department, Brown University; Fall 2004 to Spring 2006; Fall 2007 to Spring 2008; Spring 2009 “European History, 1789-1989,” Prof. Joan Richards; Spring 2008, Spring 2009 “European Intellectual History, 1880-1914,” Prof. Mary Gluck; Fall 2007 “The Vietnam War,” Prof. Andrew Huebner; Spring 2005, Spring 2006 “Modern U.S. History through Film,” Profs. Andrew Huebner and Robert Fleegler; Summer 2005 “European Intellectual History, 1914 to present,” Prof. Mary Gluck; Fall 2005 “Modern European Women’s History,” Prof. Carolyn Dean; Fall 2004 iv Teaching Assistant, History Department, Binghamton University; Fall 1999 to Spring 2000 “American Civilization, Post-1877,” Prof. Kathryn Kish Sklar; Spring 2000 “The Great Depression,” Inst. Michelle Kuhl; Fall 1999 Publications “‘The Pulse and Conscience of America:’ The General Federation and Women’s Citizenship in the Postwar Era,” forthcoming Winter 2010 with Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies Presentations “Defending a Mother’s Prerogative: Gendered Citizenship and Women’s Political Culture in the 1950s” presented to “Researching New York,” SUNY Albany; Fall 2007 “Gendered Citizenship: Women’s Political Culture in 1950s America” presented to the James A. Barnes Club Conference, Temple University; Spring 2007 Panel Commentator at “The Academic in Public Life” Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, Brown University; Spring 2005 “Defending a Mother’s Prerogative: Anti-Fluoridationist Women in New York City, 1955-1965” presented to “Gender Across Borders” Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, Brown University; Spring 2005 Professional Service Graduate Advisor, Brown Journal of History, History Department, Brown University; Fall 2006 to Spring 2009 Chair, Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, “Space as a Category of Analysis: New Perspectives,” Brown University; Spring 2005 to Spring 2006 Department Liaison, History Graduate Student Association, History Department, Brown University; Spring 2005 to Spring 2006 Department Representative, Graduate Student Council, Brown University; Fall 2006 to Spring 2007 Graduate Advisor to Undergraduate Studies, Office of Undergraduate Studies, History Department, Binghamton University; Fall 2000 v Acknowledgements I would like to extend my appreciation to the primary funders of this project, Brown University’s Graduate School and the Department of History. Special thanks also goes to the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women at Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University for supporting my work with a dissertation award, and to their archivists for assisting in my research. I would like to convey my deep gratitude to the leadership and staff involved with the Women’s History and Resource Center at the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. This project would not have been possible without their financial support as well as the generosity of time, energy, and collegiality shown in particular by archivists Danielle Snyder, Gail McCormick, and Ashley Carver. My additional appreciation to the archivists at the Abraham Lincoln Library; Gannett-Tripp Library, Elmira College; the Indiana State Library and the Indiana Historical Society; the Long Island Studies Institute, Hofstra University; the New York City Hall Library and the New York Public Library; and the staff at Brown University’s Rockefeller and Hay libraries, among others. I also offer my sincere gratitude to the clubwomen who spoke with me about their early years in the GFWC during the 1950s: Merle Allen, Molly Deignan, Jo Dukes, Sylvia Kimmel, Dottie Mitchell, Patricia Mueller, and Betty Reiwarts. This project owes many intellectual debts to my mentors. Mari Jo Buhle, Elliott Gorn, and Robert Self made for a diverse committee that challenged my arguments about vi gender, political culture, and postwar America while offering productive guidance. Because of their involvement, the project has evolved tremendously since the outset. But because of their involvement, I can also see and am excited about all the ways the project will continue to evolve moving forward. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been part of the final cohort of Mari Jo Buhle’s students before her retirement. She has trained an impressive generation of scholars and my colleagues and I are very proud to have shared in this moment in her career. I move on to the next phase of my career with her lessons in academic rigor and her commitment to women’s history anchoring my work. Thank you, Mari Jo. Although this project began after our time together ended, I would like to thank Kitty Sklar, whose ideas about womanhood and citizenship profoundly shape the historian I am today. Thank you also to Carolyn Dean, who taught me how to teach students to think about gender. And Joan Richards, whose support got me through the final stages of my dissertation and the early stages of motherhood. I would also like to express my appreciation to Gayle Gullett and the anonymous peer reviewers for Frontiers who read an article based on parts of this work. Their comments pushed this project in entirely unexpected and beneficial ways. Thank you to my writing group: Lara Couturier, Natalina Earls, Nicole Eaton, Jessica Foley, Christopher Jones, and Stacie Taranto. I derived so much more from our collaboration than just constructive criticism and intellectual growth. I cherish the laughter, frustration, rewarding conversations, and friendship we have shared these last few years. Additional thanks goes to my fellow graduate students, especially Erik vii Anderson, Christopher Brick, Mark Robbins, and Gabe Rosenberg, who created an unfailingly stimulating environment. And a sincere thank you to Andrew Lewis for being a trusted friend and advisor through it all. Thank you to friends and family who have watched all of this unfold, who have offered well wishes and encouragement. My work has been possible because there was never a doubt of support – from my family, from my in-laws, from my girlfriends. Anything that needed to happen to make everything come together, you helped make happen. I must say a special thank you to my mother, Hannah Whittaker, whose long and frequent grandmother visits this year gave me the free time I needed to focus on finishing; I am grateful (as always) to her and my father Paul for the love and guidance they have given us. The same sentiment extends to Toni and Jeff Meltzer for their care of and devotion to our family. To all the grandparents: we appreciate everything. Thank you Zoe for keeping everything in perspective for me, for being so joyful, and for bringing us so much joy. Welcoming you into the world has been the most amazing experience. And for everything I am in awe of my partner and husband, Andy, who has never doubted me, or the path we have chosen. I am honored. Thank you. viii Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………. vi Chapter One Introduction: Maternalism and the General Federation of Women’s Clubs……………………………………………………….1 Chapter Two Homemaker Professionalization: Training Clubwomen in Postwar Citizenship…………………………………………………..46
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