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M n Aibor, MI 48106 CULTURAL MONITORS: CLUBWOMEN AND PUBLIC ART INSTRUCTION IN CHICAGO, 1890-1920 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Kimberly Dawn Finley, B. A., M. F. A. ***** The Ohio State University 1989 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Kenneth Marantz Arthur Efland Terry Barrett Adviser Department of Art Education Copyright by Kimberly Dawn Finley 1989 To My Family and Friends 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I express sincere appreciation to Dr. Kenneth Marantz for his assistance throughout the dissertation process. Thanks go to the other members of my advisory committee, Drs. Arthur Efland and Terry Barrett. Special thanks to Dr. Leila Rupp, who through her teaching gave me an understanding of and passion for women's her-story. I need to acknowledge a small research grant from the Ohio State University Center for Women's Studies, which made my travel to Chicago financially possible. Thanks, too, to my aunt, uncle and cousin, Doris, Larry and Holly Williams for their undying hospitality. To my team of editors. Dr. Ceci le Gray, Kathleen Laughlin, and Sarah Trayser, thank- you. To Joanne Stichweh, for undying moral support and constant encouragement. To my friends, Carol Addy, Anne Burkhart, Julie Dowd, Elizabeth Garber, Deborah Ramage, Sarah Trayser and Nancy Wilkinson, who through little kindnesses and lots of time, provided more inspiration than they knew. To my family, thanks Mom and Jim. Special thanks goes to my father, who taught me the value of education, and through example, provided constant encouragement, thanks Dad. And finally, special mention goes to my Grandmothers, both living and dead, clubwomen among them, who provided me with strong and vital role models. iii VITA July A, 1 9 6 1 ...................... Born - Columbus, Ohio 1983 ............................... B. A., Otterbein College, Westerville, Ohio 1985 ..................................M. F. A., Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Art Education Studies In: Women's History, Dr. Leila Rupp Criticism and Media Analysis, Dr. Terry Barrett iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION.................................................... 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................ Ill VITA........................................................... Iv LIST OF PLATES............................................. vlll INTRODUCTION............................................. 1 Women's Culture, Separate Spheres and Motherhood. 6 Study Overview................................................10 Notes for Introduction.......................................14 CHAPTER PAGE I. "TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY CHICAGO: 'THE CHICAGO WOMAN AND HER CLUBS '".................................... 16 The World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1893. 17 Women In Turn-of-the-Century Chicago.............. 23 Early Women's Clubs of Chicago.....................25 The Fortnightly.................................... 26 The Chicago Woman's Club........................... 30 Programs and Affiliates ......................... 35 The Chicago Woman's Club and Education............37 Chicago Public School Art Society ............. 41 Notes for Chapter O n e ..............................43 II. "'THE EYE IS A NOBLER ORGAN'" ......................... 47 Introduction......................................... 47 Beginnings of the Chicago Public School Art S o c i e t y .................................. 48 Art and C u l t u r e .................................... 57 Nineteenth Century American Views of Fine Art . 60 Ruskln, Art and Morality........................... 67 Cultural Monitors: Women and Fine Art...........71 Art in Chicago.......................................74 Chicago Public School Art Society and the Patronage of Chicago Artists .............. 81 Notes for Chapter T w o ..............................84 III. "'ART FOR THE CHILDREN'S SAKE'"....................... 90 Introduction......................................... 90 School Decoration Movement......................... 91 The Chicago Public School Art Society: The Early Years................................ 99 Fundraising and Entertainments: Aesthetic M e a n i n g s ......................................115 The Chicago Public School Art Society and A££liates......................................120 The Feminization o£ Education .................. 128 Chicago Public Schools.............................133 Art Education in Turn-of-the-Century Chicago. 136 Art Education and the Nature Study Movement . 144 Notes for Chapter T h r e e .......................... 148 IV. "'LIFE, LIBERTY AND HAPPINESS'" OR "'SHOW ME GOOD PICTURES'".......................................... 155 The Picture Study Movement........................ 155 Moral Aesthetics and Anecdotal Images ......... 155 Schoolroom Decoration and Picture Study .... 159 The Chiago Public School Art Society's "Art Talks"................................... 163 Picture Study and Essay Writing . ............168 Notes for Chapter Four.............................173 V. "'EVERY SOCIAL WELFARE AGENCY'"................. 176 Social Work and Neighborhood Committees .... 176 The Chicago Public School Art Society and the Chicago Art Institute........................ 198 The Arts and Crafts Movement: Manual Training and Industrial Art Education............... 212 Industrial Art Cabinets ......................... 224 The Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Chicago Public School Art Society....................237 Notes for Chapter Five.............................245 VI. EPILOGUE................................................. 254 Notes for Epilogue................................. 263 vi APPENDICES A. Excerpt from "Report of Chicago Public School Art Society," 1896 ........... 265 B. Student Essay on "Our Decorations," Florence P. Weinstock, 1897 ......... 272 C. Excerpt from Board of Education Minutes. 1 9 1 4 .......................... 279 D. Excerpt from "The Chicago Public Art Society, 1920, phamplet ............. 284 REFERENCES................................................... 287 vii LIST OF PLATES PLATES PAGE I. Photograph of Ellen Gates Starr, undated. Chicago Public School Art Society Records. University of Illinois at Chicago, The University Library, Department of Special Collections....................ix II. View of classroom with picture and cast, c. 1915, Chicago Public School Art Society Records. University of Illinois at Chicago, The University Library, Department of Special Collections . x III. Picture Study in the Classroom, c. 1915, Chicago Public School Art Society Records. University of Illinois at Chicago, The University Library, Department of Special Collections. 287 IV. View of class with Industrial Art Cabinet leaves, c. 1915, Chicago Public School Art Society Records. University of Illinois at Chicago, The University Library, Department of Special Collections...................................... 288 viii I. Photograph of Ellen Gates Starr, undated. Chicago Public School Art Society Records University of Illinois at Chicago University Library, Department of Special Collections ix II. View of the classroom with picture and cast, c. 1915. Chicago Public School Art Society Records University of Illinois at Chicago University Library, Department of Special Collections In the Old World, upper-class men, claiming leisure as the principal advantage o£ their status, have made themselves the custodians of culture and the leaders in the cultural life of their communities. In America, upper class men, primarily businessmen, working more compulsively and for longer hours than any other class, have resigned their cultural responsibilities to women