Because we’ve had so much to cover this year we haven’t had a chance to look in-depth at the changing role of women in the twentieth century, after the Nineteenth Amendment was passed. However, women’s role in the workforce changed a lot, especially since the fifties when it was more common for women to work, and there have been some influential women we haven’t had the time to cover. I’m going to cover these topics in a couple of blog posts.
Women in the Workforce
In the 1950s approximately ⅓ of women were in the workforce, mainly in secretarial jobs or jobs specified for women. Women were permitted to work, but as you might remember this was the time of the cult of domesticity and many women chose to work when they were younger and then give up their jobs when they got married and had kids. This had changed by 2000, when approximately ⅔ of women were in the workforce. Significantly, the change was not as big for women from 16 to 24, as the percentage of these women in the workforce only rose 20% in 50 years. However, for women ages 25 to 54, the percentage rose by approximately 40%, as it was much more common for women to retain jobs after marriage.
Eleanor Roosevelt
With everything going on during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency, we didn’t have much time to look at Eleanor Roosevelt, but she was one of the first First Ladies who was actively involved in social issues which had to do with the government. Before her marriage she worked as a secretary and teacher, and joined the Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movements. She was actively involved in helping the poor in New York City, and even taught dance and aerobics classes to promote health.
So when Eleanor married, she already had a lot of prior experience with Progressive work. When Franklin Roosevelt became the Assistant Navy Secretary, she worked to get then-First Lady Ellen Wilson to visit the dwellings of DC’s impoverished African Americans. During World War I she helped in private aid societies which gained a high standing with the government, such as the Navy Relief Society.
At this time she was also actively involved in the media as an investigative journalist. Informing the public was a priority for Eleanor, one that continued to be a priority when she became First Lady.
After women gained the right to vote Eleanor Roosevelt became actively involved in politics. Before and during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency, Eleanor was a member of the Women’s Division of the New York State Democratic Committee, including a term of Vice President. She also joined the League of Women Voters and promoted female involvement in politics.
When her husband became president he was already severely limited by his paralyzation from polio. Eleanor would serve as an unofficial representative of his administration at times, which caused some controversy. While previous First Ladies had stuck to influencing things such as the Girl Scouts and animal rights, Eleanor did not have a niche.
She was involved in the larger government and pushed an overall Progressive agenda. She protested the internment of Japanese in World War II and supported African American rights, going even further than many Progressives, including her husband. All in all, she was a profoundly influential woman, one of the most influential of her time.
Eleanor Roosevelt: http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=33
Eleanor Roosevelt is a good example of women gaining rights because she was basically the role model to the country if you will, as many women obviously followed in her footsteps as far as gaining rights. This was all in the midst of rights being granted to women in America, and Eleanor Roosevelt was at the head of this movement. She gave the kickstart of women becoming more free in the United States.
ReplyDeleteThis is a cool post, Maya. Something I always found interesting about women in the 20th century was how similar the post-war decades were. In the 1920s, women went back to domestic life after becoming more involved in the workforce during the war, although they were able to gain rights by securing the vote in 1920. Similarly, many women went back to domestic life after WWII (see: baby boom), although as you mentioned. The 1920s and the 1950s also saw a sort of an anticulture wave of sexual liberation for women -- with the flappers in the 1920s and rock'n'roll in the 1950s.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Maya. The changing roles of women in the twentieth century was something we covered in depth in MEHAP, but we didn't get to talk about it quite as much this year, so I definitely appreciate the post. I think it's so important that posts like this are made and that we study history like this. In one of my prep books for the USHAP test, the author made the claim that whenever "______ gained rights in the (insert time period)" shows up on the test, if "women" is listed as an answer, it's an easy elimination. As annoying as that sounds, it's definitely true for women largely before the 1920's and for much of the mid-20th century. Here's to continuing the study of women in history!
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