“A New Woman in Old Fashioned Times”: Party Women and the Rhetorical Foundations of Political Womanhood A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Emily Ann Berg Paup IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, Advisor December 2012 © Emily Ann Berg Paup 2012 i Acknowledgments My favorite childhood author, Louis May Alcott, once wrote: “We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving, and we all have the power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.” These words have guided me through much of my life as I have found a love of learning, a passion for teaching, and an appreciation for women who paved the way so that I might celebrate my successes. I would like to acknowledge those who have aided in my journey, helped to keep me believing, and molded me into the scholar that I am today. I need to begin by acknowledging those who led me to want to pursue a career in higher education in the first place. Dr. Bonnie Jefferson’s The Rhetorical Tradition was the first class that I walked into during my undergraduate years at Boston College. She made me fall in love with the history of U.S. public discourse and the study of rhetorical criticism. Ever since the fall of 2002, Bonnie has been a trusted colleague and friend who showed me what a passion for learning and teaching looked like. Dr. Dale Herbeck and Dr. Charles E. Morris III were also inspirational figures at Boston College, and I would not be where I am today without their guidance and support. As I ventured to graduate school at the University of Minnesota, I had the privilege of working with some of the best rhetorical scholars in the country. I am honored to have had the privilege to work with Dr. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell. Her career, scholarly work, and educational guidance served as the inspiration for this Dissertation. I hope that it is an addition to the groundbreaking work that she has done for women in history, and I am grateful for her patience and direction throughout the years. I also ii would like to thank Dr. Edward Schiappa, who has been a pillar of support in my educational and professional life. His open door and candid professional advice is invaluable. The other members of my committee were influential in the development and execution of this project. I am indebted to Dr. Zornitsa Keremidchieva, who has been a constant source of inspiration and support. She went above and beyond the duties of an outside committee member and helped to form this project as a whole. Dr. Mary Vavrus has always been reassuring and helpful, and I thank her for the support. I also thank Dr. Lisa Norling, who opened my eyes to interdisciplinary approaches to the study of women in history. In addition, I owe much of my development as a scholar to Dr. Kirt Wilson, from whom I received the best possible education and encouragement. Next I would like to recognize the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota for the funding and support through the years. I also would like to thank the University of Minnesota for the 2011-2012 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. An archival project such as this is not completed without the help of others in a scholarly community. I would like to thank the staff at the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Drs. Ronald and Mary Zboray, Dr. Jill Norgren, and Dr. Anne Mattina for their critical assistance. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Terry Check, Dr. Aric Putnam, Dr. Katherine Johnson, Dr. Jennifer Kramer, and the rest of the Communication Department at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University for their support during the final stages of this dissertation. I owe my success in graduate school to close friends and colleagues who rode the waves with me. I learned a lot from Meg Kunde, Justin Killian, Jess Prody, and Sam iii Boerboom, who were all integral members of a supportive graduate community. Jeremy Rose has also always been there for me as a friend and as a colleague. In addition, Sara Ann Mehltretter Drury and Chara Van Horn are two women whom I admire and am lucky to call friends. Finally, Diane Odash has been there every step of this journey. I am eternally grateful for her friendship and support. Finally, I could not have completed this project without the unfailing love and encouragement of my family. Adam and Elizabeth Berg are two loving and compassionate siblings who have always been there no matter what. My husband, Dan Paup, is my rock, without whom I would have no direction or purpose. Thank you for your faith in me. Finally, I thank my parents, who encouraged all of their children to pursue their dreams. Their dedication to my education, encouragement, and support has been unfailing. Words cannot express how appreciative and lucky I am to have the family that I do. My maternal grandfather, John L. Parker, loved learning, and my mother has always expressed to me how proud he would have been of my pursuit of a PhD. I hope to live up to his example and spread his love of learning as a teacher and scholar. iv Dedication To my parents. Thank you for encouraging me to learn. v Abstract Women have been involved in party politics in the U.S. in a variety of ways since the American Revolutionary War. They began as participants from within the home and grew to have leadership roles within partisan organizations themselves. This evolution in role was possible because of the rhetorical efforts of party women during the Gilded Age. Through case studies of Populist Party leader Mary Elizabeth Lease, Prohibition Party founder Frances Elizabeth Willard, key Republican Party player Judith Ellen Foster, and presidential candidate Belva Bennett Lockwood, the narrative of female political activism is expanded and nuanced. All four women acted with political agency inconsistent with their contemporary dominant socio-political system. By deepening the archive of female historical discourse and through analysis of rhetorical patterns of party women in the late nineteenth century, scholars gain insight into the political culture, the power of rhetorical agency, and the rhetorical power of women. This history creates a model of rhetorical discourse for political women of the future, putting historical rhetorical practice in conversation with contemporary rhetorical strategies. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................ i Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Abstract ............................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Chapter Two: Mary Elizabeth Lease, The Feminized Populist ........................................ 58 Chapter Three: Frances E. Willard and Judith E. Foster, Principled Partisans .............. 100 Chapter 4: Belva Bennett Lockwood, Confident Candidate ........................................... 158 Chapter Five: Precedents and Directions ........................................................................ 207 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 225 Introduction 1 “The world was wide, and I would not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.” ~Frances Elizabeth Willard1 Chapter One: Introduction During a classroom discussion about the presidential election in September 2012, I asked my students to discuss the candidates. Throughout the course of this conversation, I asked them to name the female candidates for President of the United States. When it was clear that they were not aware of any female candidates, I asked them whom the first woman was ever to run for President. One young student in the front row raised his hand and answered enthusiastically, “Hillary Clinton!” Another proclaimed “Margaret Chase Smith!” Although the young woman who answered Margaret Chase Smith impressed me, given the lack of education about female politicians in our schools today, this classroom exchange reiterated a realization that I have had for quite some time now. Students are unaware of the dynamic political culture that currently exists, with its multitude of candidates and voices. Perhaps even more significantly, society at large is also uneducated about our history. Another anecdote will help to illustrate this point. As I walked into the classroom during the summer of 2011, I prepared to prompt a discussion about Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s recent presidential campaign announcement. As I looked for news stories that covered the event, a CNN blog caught my attention. Its title was “Michele Bachmann, Evangelical Feminist?”2 Although the blog acknowledges that “evangelical women have long been involved in political activism,” it suggests that their presence in “white house” partisan politics “took off in the 1980s.” I continued to prepare for class, determined to teach my students the rich history of evangelical feminism that dominated partisan discourse in the 1880s. Introduction 2 As a