Womens Issues
The period 1900-1920 is often called the Progressive Era. The frontier had closed, Americans were getting use to new technology, its spread and its affect on work and family life. Pioneer women had paved the way for women to adopt new roles. No longer need she be the stodgy matron after marriage nor did she have to stay at home and act the delicate creature that men placed on a pedestal. Closing styles changed and women took a more active role in the public sphere. This book covers the period in a categorical fashion. Starting with woman's work inside the home then women working outside the home. Women took on a more active role in cleaning up government and society and worked for the vote. Black women were also part of this 'progress', however, segregation was rampant in the woman's movement as well as society at large. There was also a sexual revolution with women actively working for and using birth control and demanding that their needs be answered. Later part of the period saw women working against war and for peace but when the US entered WW I they actively supported the troops in spite of impediment placed before then by the government. These issues are treated within this work.
I recommend this book to everyone. While it is a great introduction to woman's issues for Woman's Studies it is also edifying for those who have no idea of woman's issues nor the progressive movement.