VICTORIAN WOMEN HELPED CIVILIZE CALIFORNIA'S GOLD RUSH ERA FRONTIER By Deborah Paine Brock A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Education Committee Membership Dr. Delores McBroome, Committee Chair Dr. Gayle Olson-Raymer, Committee Member Dr. Eric Van Duzer, Graduate Coordinator May 2013 Abstract VICTORIAN WOMEN HELPED CIVILIZE CALIFORNIA'S GOLD RUSH ERA FRONTIER Deborah Paine Brock Due to the lack of written historical documents authored by women during the California Gold Rush, teachers often neglect their presence and influence on the developing society during this era of time in California. This project includes a three- week curriculum for elementary students that addresses the changing role of women on the early California frontier. Students examine the issues women faced in California during the Gold Rush era by utilizing critical thinking skills, analyzing primary documents, and viewing life through the eyes of women pioneers from secondary sources. Working through each lesson, students will gain an appreciation of the story of Gold Rush women and their historical impact on the political and social development of California. Students will be given the opportunity to investigate, judge, and provide their own interpretation of the significance of women’s contribution as they take the perspectives of individuals they are studying. This project invites students and teachers to explore historical issues, problems, ideas, values, behaviors, interests, and personalities of women in Gold Rush California. As students and teachers alike do historical research they will learn to view the past beyond the lens of the present and place into context the motives and actions of women who lived in a very different time in the past. ii Acknowledgements The Humboldt County Teaching American History (TAH) program inspired this project and provided Humboldt County teachers 10 years of history, methodology, and content courses taught by an esteemed pair of professors, Gayle Olson-Raymer and Dee McBroome. Their countless hours preparing lectures, introducing teaching methodology, and reading M.A. students’ projects provided many teachers the opportunity to become history detectives and better prepared teachers in the classroom. I also wish to thank Jack Bareilles for his inspiration for Northern Humboldt TAH and the opportunities he provided to teachers in our area to further their teaching skills in history. Next, I would like to thank Eric Van Duzer and the Humboldt State University’s Education Department for taking on the challenge of integrating the TAH program into the Education M.A. Program. I would also like to thank Professor Ann Diver-Stamnes for her invaluable Academic Writing class and her assistance in formatting and guiding my writing during my literature review. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their encouragement and support needed to complete this project. I could not have started, continued, nor finished it without the sacrifice of my 91-year-old mother Audrey, my brother Steve, and my sister- in-law Paula. Many nights and days I spent cloistered in a room writing and researching, while my brother and sister-in-law cared for my mom and allowed me the time to study. My son Jeff and his wife Monica provided me with the encouragement to “keep on iii going” when I felt frustrated and unable to continue writing and researching. To them I owe a big hug and thank you! Finally, I would like to thank my dad Lyman, who looks down from heaven and sees the “seeds of education” he planted in my youth coming into blossom. He encouraged me to fulfill my dreams. He believed that women were capable of all possibilities that life had to offer, and nothing was too big a challenge. I owe my father the credit for germinating the thought about women pioneers, their strength and determination, and their inclusion in the Gold Rush story of California. Obviously, it takes many people to provide the opportunities for a student and teacher to earn a master’s degree. Thank you all for this feat of support. I couldn’t have completed this journey without you. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ v List of Appendices ............................................................................................................ xv Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Review of Literature ........................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 6 The Absence of Women's Histories ................................................................................ 7 Overland Journey on the California Trail ..................................................................... 11 Journey by Sea .............................................................................................................. 17 Social Fabric of Diggings and Towns........................................................................... 24 Women’s Roles in Early California .............................................................................. 31 California Women Challenge the Cult of True Womanhood ....................................... 41 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 45 Methods............................................................................................................................. 47 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 47 Research Question ........................................................................................................ 48 The Research Process ................................................................................................... 49 Justification for the Curriculum .................................................................................... 51 Curriculum Development ............................................................................................. 52 v Overview of Instructional Delivery .............................................................................. 56 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 57 Lesson Plans...................................................................................................................... 58 Lesson Day One ............................................................................................................ 58 Introduction. .............................................................................................................. 60 Hook. ......................................................................................................................... 60 Transition. ................................................................................................................. 61 Content. ..................................................................................................................... 62 Homework. ................................................................................................................ 63 Conclusion. ............................................................................................................... 63 Assessment. ............................................................................................................... 63 Notes to teacher. ........................................................................................................ 63 Lesson Day Two ........................................................................................................... 65 Introduction. .............................................................................................................. 65 Hook. ......................................................................................................................... 65 Content. ..................................................................................................................... 66 Homework. ................................................................................................................ 66 Assessment. ............................................................................................................... 66 Conclusion. ............................................................................................................... 66 Lesson Day Three ......................................................................................................... 67 Introduction. .............................................................................................................. 67 Hook. ......................................................................................................................... 67 Transition. 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