The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of English RHETORIC AND REVISION: WOMEN’S ARGUMENTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERA A Dissertation in English by Stacey Ellen Sheriff ©2009 Stacey Ellen Sheriff Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2009 ii The dissertation of Stacey Ellen Sheriff was reviewed and approved* by the following: Cheryl Glenn Liberal Arts Research Professor of English and Women‘s Studies Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Keith Gilyard Distinguished Professor of English J. Michael Hogan Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences Linda Selzer Associate Professor of English and American Studies Jack Selzer Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies Robin Schulze Professor of English Head of the Department of English *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT How did women advocate for social justice and civil rights during the Progressive Era? How were their interventions received? How did experiences of rhetorical failure shape their rhetorical strategies and practices? To address such questions, Rhetoric and Revision takes up case studies of activists Ida B. Wells, Sui Sin Far, and Jane Addams, who each engaged issues central to democratic citizenship. Wells worked to galvanize the American public to end lynching, Sui Sin Far argued for Chinese American civil rights and a progressive conception of Eurasian identity, and Addams advocated for pacifism and international mediation as an alternative to World War I. Using archival sources and rare newspaper and periodical items, I demonstrate that while each of these rhetors is known for her communicative savvy, courage, and diplomacy, each experienced significant moments of rhetorical failure. By situating such experiences in historical and sociocultural context, I analyze their compositional choices and their texts‘ reception, demonstrating how each rhetor was constrained by her positioning and resources. I also examine the strategic revisions each employed to continue her rhetorical advocacy. My study reveals how diverse and significant Progressive Era women argued for social justice and used their understandings of the privileges of nationality, race, and gender to complicate the binary between speaker and audience. Rhetoric and Revision centralizes issues of power, access, and resources and broadens our understanding of the ―typical‖ rhetorical exigencies of the Progressive Era. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ vi CHAPTER ONE Introduction......................................................................................... 1 Defining “Rhetorical Failure” ....................................................................................... 6 Why Study Rhetorical Failure? ....................................................................................... 8 Scholarly Approaches to Rhetorical Criticism and Practice ........................................ 12 Doing Rhetorical Criticism ....................................................................................... 14 Why Write About Women and the Progressive Era? .................................................... 21 Some Methodological Considerations .......................................................................... 26 Mapping Chapters ........................................................................................................ 28 CHAPTER TWO “Free Speech was the disturbing element”: Ida B. Wells and Antilynching Rhetoric for a Revolution in Public Sentiment ..................................... 31 The Scholarly Conversation .......................................................................................... 34 Post-Reconstruction: Context for Wells’s Early Rhetoric ............................................ 38 Rhetorical Career: From “Iola” to “Exiled” .............................................................. 42 Biographical Background ......................................................................................... 43 Becoming “Iola” ....................................................................................................... 46 Practicing Free Speech as a Professional Journalist ............................................... 53 Civil Action & Investigation After the “Curve” Lynching ....................................... 56 Revealing the “Threadbare Lie” in Memphis .............................................................. 61 Recovery in Exile: The Age and Organization in New York ......................................... 65 The New York Age: Access, Ethos and Libel ............................................................ 68 The Requirements of Southern Journalism ............................................................... 73 Conclusion: Assessing Wells’s Early Rhetorical Effectiveness .................................... 76 CHAPTER THREE Sui Sin Far and the “Connecting Link”: Strategies for Chinese American Advocacy, Resistance, and (De)Familiarization ......................................... 79 The Scholarly Conversation: From “Failure” to Rhetor(ician) .................................. 83 Recuperating Sui Sin Far .......................................................................................... 88 Recuperating Sui Sin Far as a Rhetor ...................................................................... 91 Rhetorical Career: The Struggle to “Plant a few Eurasian thoughts” in Print ........... 93 Biographical Background ......................................................................................... 94 Becoming a Journalist .............................................................................................. 95 Becoming Sui Sin Far in the United States ............................................................... 98 Sociocultural Context: The Age of Exclusion ............................................................. 102 Recovering a Public Voice: Autobiography and Resistance ...................................... 112 Relocating East to Boston ....................................................................................... 115 Access and Autobiography ...................................................................................... 118 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 129 CHAPTER FOUR A “Revolt Against War”: Jane Addams Disturbs Conventions and Deploys Memory .................................................................................................... 131 The Scholarly Conversation ........................................................................................ 136 Rhetorical Career: From the “Symbol of American Democracy” to “Social Opprobrium” .............................................................................................................. 141 Biographical Background ....................................................................................... 142 v Becoming Famous: the Resources and Writings of Hull-House ............................ 146 Extending Women’s Sphere in Social Reform ............................................................ 151 Coming Out for Politics and Peace ........................................................................ 155 “Miss Addams Tells of Quest for Peace”: The Carnegie Hall Address ..................... 158 “The Revolt Against War” ...................................................................................... 159 Reactions to the Address: Feminism, Pacifism, and Suffrage Collide ................... 168 Revision and Recovery: Women’s Memories Challenging War ................................. 178 The Devil Baby, Memory, and Pacifism ................................................................. 178 CHAPTER FIVE Conclusion ...................................................................................... 187 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 187 Inferences .................................................................................................................... 189 Implications................................................................................................................. 191 A Heuristic Grammar of Rhetorical Failure .......................................................... 192 WORKS CITED............................................................................................................ 195 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is dedicated to my daughter, Katherine Grace Arner. Her presence was a joyous influence in my life as I wrote and researched this project. During the course of my writing, the significance and necessity of ―revision‖ took on a highly personal meaning for me, and Katie inspired me to revise and to continue in countless ways. I would like to thank my entire committee for their help with this dissertation. My advisor and chair, Cheryl Glenn, first encouraged me to pursue my interest in ―rhetorical failure.‖ Her feedback, advice, and encouragement throughout this project have been invaluable; she is the best mentor I could possibly have had. Jack Selzer inspired my interest in the Progressive Era and has provided incisive editorial advice and support throughout my writing. The idea for this project grew out of a seminar in Histories and Historiographies