The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts WILD WOMEN OF THE PROGRESSIVE ERA: RHETORIC, GENDER, AND AGITATION IN THE AGE OF REFORM A Dissertation in Communication Arts and Sciences by Mary K. Haman © 2009 Mary K. Haman Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2009 The dissertation of Mary K. Haman was reviewed and approved* by the following: J. Michael Hogan Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Stephen H. Browne Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Daniel L. Letwin Associate Professor of History Thomas W. Benson Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences and Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Rhetoric Head of the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ABSTRACT This study explores the ways in which female reformers during the Progressive Era (1900-1917) employed radical, even confrontational tactics, to call attention to their various causes, to force their issues onto the public agenda, and to put pressure on authority or "establishment" figures to respond to their demands. The project consists of a series of case studies of four well-known reformers, all of whom challenged prevailing norms of acceptable public behavior: labor leader Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, prohibitionist Carry A. Nation, suffragist Alice Paul, and anarchist Emma Goldman. I label these activists the "wild women" of the Progressive Era not only because they violated prevailing conventions of civil or polite speech, but also because they adopted unconventional social movement strategies for creating public spectacles, engaging in civil disobedience, and building public sympathy for their causes. Research on these reformers contributes not only to scholarly understanding of these women and their era, but also to larger theoretical conversations about the rhetoric of agitation, visual spectacle, martyrdom, and other topics in the literature on the rhetoric of social movements. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .....................................................................................................vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................vii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................1 Women in the Progressive Era...............................................................................6 Agitation as Rhetorical Strategy ............................................................................10 Radical Rhetoric and Women in the Progressive Era............................................17 Endnotes.................................................................................................................26 Chapter 2 MOTHER JONES AND "WORKING CLASS" SPEECH .......................31 Mother Jones's Activism........................................................................................32 West Virginia Mining and the Conflict of 1912 ....................................................37 Jones's August 15 Speech ......................................................................................42 Jones's Radical Style.....................................................................................43 Jones's Outsider Advocacy ...........................................................................46 Working-Class Identity.................................................................................47 Jones's Appeal to a Higher Power.................................................................49 Jones's Optimistic Vision of the Future ........................................................51 The Legacy of Mother Jones..................................................................................53 Endnotes.................................................................................................................58 Chapter 3 CARRY A. NATION AND THE RHETORICAL JUSTIFICATION FOR VIOLENCE..................................................................................................65 Portraits of Carry Nation........................................................................................68 Nation's Memoir as Rhetorical Apologia...............................................................77 Nation as Victim ...........................................................................................78 Nation as Mother Figure ...............................................................................80 Nation as a Tool of the Lord.........................................................................82 Nation's Memoir as Autobiographical Manifesto..................................................85 The Legacy of Carry Nation ..................................................................................89 Endnotes.................................................................................................................92 Chapter 4 ALICE PAUL AND THE RHETORIC OF SPECTACLE AND MARTYRDOM....................................................................................................100 Alice Paul and the Rise of the Militant Suffrage Movement.................................104 The Rhetoric of Spectacle: The Suffrage Parade of 1913......................................109 The Parade as Working-Class Strategy.........................................................115 The Irony of the Suffrage Parade..................................................................117 iv The Rhetoric of Martyrdom: The Pickets and Hunger Strikes of 1917.................119 The Strategy of the Picketing Campaign ......................................................126 The Legacy of Alice Paul ......................................................................................129 Endnotes.................................................................................................................135 Chapter 5 EMMA GOLDMAN AND THE RHETORIC OF HUMAN LIBERATION ......................................................................................................142 Emma Goldman and the Making of an Anarchist Agitator ...................................145 Goldman's "Address to the Jury" and the Rhetoric of Martyrdom ........................156 Goldman's Vision of Human Liberation................................................................160 The Legacy of Emma Goldman.............................................................................170 Endnotes.................................................................................................................177 Chapter 6 CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................189 The Rhetorical Legacy of the "Wild Women" of the Progressive Era ..................196 Endnotes.................................................................................................................204 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................207 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Jones poses for a portrait in 1902 wearing a modest black dress that was typical of her attire................................................................................................36 Figure 2: Yale students took of prank photograph of Nation in which she appeared to be joining them for cigars and drinks. ..............................................................71 Figure 3: A cartoon in Life magazine portrays Nation with a man's head and woman's body. ......................................................................................................73 Figure 4: A cartoonist draws Nation as a cyclone in a "climax" of a suppressed sex drive or a menopausal rage.............................................................................74 Figure 5: Marchers process on foot and on horseback during the March 3, 1913 parade....................................................................................................................111 Figure 6: Spectators flood the streets during the suffrage parade, effectively blocking the road for marchers.............................................................................112 Figure 7: Paul and NWP members picket the White House........................................120 Figure 8: Photograph of Goldman after her 1893 arrest in Union Square...................151 Figure 9: Goldman and Berkman appear in court on June 15, 1917. ..........................154 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would not have been able to complete this project without the guidance and support of wonderful teachers, family members, colleagues, and friends. Most notably, I am grateful for my advisor, Dr. J. Michael Hogan. His insightful commentary and careful critiques were invaluable in completing this project. Serving as my teacher, advisor, and mentor, Dr. Hogan played the central role in my graduate education. His scholarship, teaching, and mentoring enlightened, challenged, and inspired me. I will always feel fortunate that I was his student. I am also thankful for the knowledge, advice, and encouragement I received from my committee members, Dr. Thomas Benson, Dr. Stephen Browne, and Dr. Daniel Letwin. Interacting with these exceptional scholars in their classrooms and in our committee meetings was a genuine privilege that I will forever value. I would like to thank my parents, George Haman and Mary