w 1 ^ffCCr/iVC; l/AM4Tlt'K Cnptivily an<l buHVrin^ MARYSMITH Wli'> wi'h l«r ll«ib«ac| (1111 Ilirts w«re Ukcn praooen by ^j||M ihalMUI^NS, io Aa{a>t l*M (I8t4) snri aflw cMoriep (h» noik ore*] hsrdrbip* and lortiir* of ainri iae (isljr d*y» (in olitcb lui* sIm n ItMMd ru£ TKkCitiL btraiH neHeie Hwa.ivn *01] Mplw* ChiUna) «m fotlaa*- tdf rc*ea«<] Tron tbe ni*rail«n fundi af (h« iMf >;« by • daUchcil party Trsm army of (ha bnva GENERAI. JACKSOV. No'tt c«skDua<Iisf It Nt^Otlna*. f vSi^F 1^ % ^ ^1^ {/Ic Grnitrat ^iccess iif Uje r^r&son Jiy vHmeTjtoMASHWSKy jVBTOn. , W'TOWj ^^^»lav (tv ▼ naacao* (•u^bvjMJWMSHISKY > (fOBM I ULUArt Pmuio* 11 Violin The sentiments of an AMERICAN woman. O N the commencement of aftual war, the Women of America manifefted a firm refo- lution to contribute as much as could depend on them, to thedeliverance of their coun¬ try. Animated by the purefi; patriotifm, they are fenfibleof forrow at this day, in not offer¬ ing more than barren wifhes for the fuccefs of fo glorious a Revolution. Thev afpire to ren¬ der themfelves more really ufeful jand this fentiment is univerfal from the north to the fouth cf the Thirteen United States. Our ambition is kindledby the fame of thofe heroines of an¬ tiquity, who have rendered their fex illuftrious, and have proved to the univerfe, that, if the weaknefs of our Conftitution, if opinion and manners did not forbid us to march to glo¬ ry by the fame paths as the Men, we fhould ar leaft equal, and fometimes furpafs them in our love for the public good. I glory in all that which my fex has done great and commendable. I call to mind with enthufjafm and with admiration, all thofe ads of courage, of conflan- cy and patriotifm, which liiftory has tranfmitted to us : The people favoured by Heaven, preferved from deftrudion by the virtues, the zeal and the refolution cf Deborah, of Judith, of Efther 1 The fortitude of the mother of the Macchabees, in giving up her for.s to die be¬ fore her eyes : Rome faved from the fury of a vidoriou; enemy by the efforts cf Volumnia, and other Roman Ladies: So many famous fieges where the Women have been feen forget- ing the weaknefs cf their fex, building new walls, digging trenches with their feeble Hands, furnilhing arms to their defenders, they themfelves darting the milTile weapons on the ene¬ my, religningthc ornaments of their apparel, and their fortune, to fill the public treafury, ar.d to haden thedeliverance of their country ; burying themfelves under its ruinsj throwing themfelves into the flames rather than fubmit to the difgracc of humiliation before a proud enemy. Born for liberty, difdaining to bear the irons of a tyrannic Government, we affociate our- felvos to the grandeur of thofe Sovereigns,cherifhed and revered, who have held with fo much fplendour the feepterof the greateft States, The Batildas, the Elizabeths, the Maries, the Ca¬ tharines, who have extended the empire of liberty, and contented to reign by fweetnefs and juftice, have broken the chains of flavery, forged by tyrants in the times of ignorance and barbarity. The SpanifhWomen, do they not make, at this moment, the mod patriotic facrifices, to encreafe the means of vidory in the hands of their Sovereign. He is a friend to the French Nation. They are our allies. We call to mind, doubly interefted, that it was a French Maid who kindled up amongft her fellow-citizens, the flame ot patriotifm buried under long mis¬ fortunes : It was the Maid of Orleans who drove from the kingdom of France the anceftors of thofe fame Britifh, whofe odious yoke we have juft flraken off ; and whom it is neceffary that we drive from this Continent. But I muft limit myfelf to the recollection of this fmall number of atchievements. Who knows if perlons di pefed to cenfure, and fometimes too feverely with regard to us, may not difapprove our appearing acquainted even with the actions of which our fexboafts.^ We are at leaft certain, that he cannot be a good citizen who will not applaud our efforts for the relief of the armies which defend our lives, our pofl'effions, our liberty f The fituation of our foldiery has been reprefented to me; the evils infeparable from war, and the firm and generous fpirit which has enabled them to fupport thefe. Bat it has been faid, that they may apprehend, that, in the courfeof a long war, the view of their diftreffes may be loft, and their fervices be for¬ gotten. Forgotten ! never ; I can anfwcr in the name cf-all my fex. Brave Americans, your diiintereftedijefs, your courage, and your conftancy will always be dear to America, as long as (he fhall preferve bar virtue. We know that at adiftance from the theatre of war, if we enjoy any tranquility, it is the fruit of your watchings, your labours, your dangers. If I live happy in the midft of my family ; if myhufband cultivates his field, and reaps his harveft in peace ; if, furrounded with my children, I myfe'f nourifti the youngeft, and prefs it to my bofom, without being affra'd of feeing myfelf feparated froro it, by a ferocious enemy ; if theboufe in which we dwell ; if our barns, our orchards are fafeat theprefent time from the hands of thofe incendiaries, it is to you that we owe it. And fhall we hefitate to evidence to you our gratitude.'’ Shall we hefitate to wear a cloathing more Ample; hair dreffed lefs elegant, while at the price of this fmall priva¬ tion, we fhall deferve your benedieflions. Who, amongft us, will not renounce with the higheft pleafure, thofe vain ornaments, when-fhe fhall confider that the valiant defenders of Ame¬ rica will be able to draw fom.e aclvantage from the money which fhe may have laid out in thefe; that they will be better defended from the rigours of the feafons, that after their painful toils, they will receive fenre extraordinary and unexpected relief; that thefe prefents will perhaps be valued by them at a greater price, when they will have it in their power to fay : This is the o^'erin? of ll: Ladies. The time is arrived to difplay the fame fentiments which animated us at the beginning of the Revolution, when we renounced the ufe of teas, however agree¬ able to our tafte, rather than receive them from ourperfecutors ; when we made it appear to them that we placed former ncceftaries in the rank cf fuperfluities, when our liberty was inte- refted ; when our republican and laborious hands fpun the flax, prepared the linen intended for the ufe of our foldiefs ; when exiles and fugitives we fupported with courage all the evils which are the concomitants of war. Let us not lofe a moment; let us be engaged to offer the ho¬ mage of our gratitude at the altar of military valour, and you, our brave deliverers, while mer¬ cenary flaves combat to caufe you tofhare with them, the irons with which they are leaded, re¬ ceive with a free hand cur offering, thenureftrchichcan be prefented to your virtue, " By Ax AMERICAN WOMAN. IDEAS, relative to the manner of forvearding to the American Soldiers, the Prejcnts of the American Women. A ^ plans are eligible, when doing good is the objedl; there is however one more pre¬ ferable ; and when the operation is extenfive, we cannot give it too much uniformity. On the other fide, the wants of our army do not permit the flownefs of an ordinary path. It is not in one month, nor in eight days, that we would relieve our foldiery. It is immediately} and our impatience does not permit us to proceed by the long circuity of colledors, receivers and treafurers. As my idea with regard to this, have been approved by fome Ladies of my friends, I will explain them here ; every other perfon will not be lefs at liberty to prepare and to adopt a different plan. ift. All Women and Girls will be received without exception, to prefent their patriotic of¬ fering ; and, as it is abfolutely voluntary, every one will regulate it according to her abili¬ ty, and her difpofition. The (hilling offered by the Widow or the young Girl, will be re¬ ceived as well as the moft confiderable fums prefented by the Women who have the happinefs to join to their patriotifm, greater means to beufeful. 2d. A Lady chofen by the others in each county, (hall be the Treafurefs ; and to render her tafk more fimple, and more eafy, (he will not receive but determinate fums, in a round number, from twenty hard dollars to any greater fum. The exchange forty dollars in paper for one dollar in fpecie. i It is hoped that there will not be one Woman who will not with pleafure charge herfelf with the embarraffment which will attend fo honorable an operation. 3d. The Women who (hall not be in a condition to fend twenty dollars in fpecie, or above, will join in as great a number as will be neceffary to make this or any greater fum, and one amongft them will carry it, or caufe it to be fent to the Treafurefs. 4th. The Treafurefs of the county will receive the money, and will keep a regifter, writing the fums in her book, and caufing it to be figned at the fide of the whole by the perton who has prefented it. 5th. When feveral Women (hall join together to make a total fum of twenty dollars or more, i(he amongft them who (hall have the charge to carry it to the Treafurefs, will make men¬ tion of all their names on the regifter, if her aflociates (hall havefo direded herj tbofe whofe choice itihall be, will have the liberty to remain unknown. 6th. As foon as the Treafurefs of the county fhall judge, that the fums which (he (hall have received, deferve to be fent to their deftination, flie will caufe them to be prefented with the lifts, to the wife of the Governor or Prefident of the State, who will be the Treafurefs-Gene- ral of the State j and (lie will caufe it to be fet down in her regifter, and have-it fent to Mif- trefs Wafliington. If the Governor or Prefident are unmarried, all willaddrefs themfelves to the wife of the Vice-Prefident, if there is one, or of the Chief-Juftice,&c. yfh. Women fettled in the diftant parts of the country, and not chpfing for any particular reafon as for the fake of greater expedition, to remit their Capital to the Treafurels, may fend it diredly to the wife of the Governor, or Prefident, &c. or to Miftrefs Wa(hington, who, if (lie (liall judge neceffary, will in a (hort anfwer to the fender, acquaint her with the reception of it. 8th. As Mrs. Wafhington may be abfent from the camp when the greater part of the banks (hail be fent there the American Women confidering, that General Wafhington is the Fa¬ ther and Friend of the Soldiery ; that he is himfelf, the firft Soldier of the Republic, and that their offering will be received at its deftination,as foon as it (hall have come to his hands, they will pray him, to take the charge of receiving it, in the abfence of Mrs. Wafhing¬ ton. qth. General Wafhington will difpofeof this fund in the manner that he (hall judge mod advantageous to the Soldiery. The American Women defire only that it may not be confider- ed as to be employed, to procure to the army, the objeds of fubfiftenee, arms or cloathing, iwhich are due to them by the Continent. It is an extraordinary bounty intended to render the condition of the Soldier more pleafant, and not to hold place of the things which they ought to receive from the Congrefs, or from the States. loth. If the General judges neceffary, he will publifli at the end of a certain time, an amount of that which fhall have been received from each particular State. nth. The Women who (hall fend their offerings, will have in their choice to conceal or to give their names j and if it fhall be thought proper, on a fit occafion, to publifh one day the lifts, they only, who fhall confent, fhall be named ; when with regard to the fums fent, there will be no mention made, if they fo defire it. Printed By JOHN DUNLAP. Overleaf, on the Endpapers: I he Sentiments of an American Woman. Verso: Ideas, relative to the manner of forwarding to the American Soldiers, the Presents of the American Women. [Philadelphia:] Printed bj’ John Dunlap, [June JO, lySoJ. Printed Ephemera Collection, Portfolio 146;^. Rare Book and Special Collections Divi¬ sion. Photograph hr Yiisef El-Amin. In late May 1780, General George Washington reported to Congress that serious and prolonged shortages of rations, clothing, and pay had nearly exhausted his troops. Immediate relief was needed. Aspiring "to render themselves more really useful," the women of Philadelphia, who had observed that government measures were usually slow and inadequate, took on this challenge. Led by Esther De Berdt Reed (1747-1780), first lady of Pennsylvania, the ladies quickly organized a sys¬ tematic plan for canvassing the city and suburbs. In mid-June, at least three dozen women went from house to house soliciting funds. The efforts of this "resistless force" were so successful that in her July 4, 1780, letter to Washington, Esther Reed could report that the women had raised more than $300,000 in paper currency. Subscription papers for this pioneering charity drive, later published by Reed's grandson, list 1,645 con¬ tributors by name and amount. Although most contributions were in depreciated paper currency, more than a third of the funds were in specie. One pair of leather breeches was donated. Both the countess de La Luzerne, wife of the French minister, and the marquise de Lafayette, through the marquis, contributed gen¬ erously. The ladies' campaign received repeated praise in the Pennsylvania Packet, where the amount the women raised was shown to rival the sum pledged by men to establish a bank—and these subscriptions from the men were expected to be returned to them with interest. Sentiments of an American Woman—probably written by Esther Reed—sets out historical examples of aggressive female patriotism as inspiration and justification for a call to political action. Professing women's "love for the public good" to be at least equal to that of men, the writer encourages women actively to make personal sacrifices to give soldiers "extraordinary and unexpected" presents of gratitude and remem¬ brance. Esther Reed's patriotism is particularly noteworthy. She had come to America only a decade earlier as the bride of Joseph Reed. The conditions of war had effectively separated her from her family and friends in England. Furthermore, Esther undertook leadership of the women's relief efforts in the weeks immediately following the birth in May of her sixth child, George Washington Reed, at a time when most women would have restricted their physical and social activities severely. On the verso of this broadsheet is a detailed plan for collecting and forwarding funds. Virginia Congress¬ man John Walker, in his June 13, 1780, letter to Governor Thomas Jefferson, suggests that it was drawn up by Francois, marquis de Barbe-Marbois, secretary of the French legation, who was known to have encour¬ aged the women's relief activities. This broadsheet, which, according to the June 13 Pennsylvania Packet, was published on June 10, 1780, was undoubtedly the plan enclosed by several congressional delegates with their June correspondence home. With encouragement from Esther Reed and Martha Washington, similar fund drives were organized in Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. As in Philadelphia, women in these three states adapted their fund¬ raising efforts to meet local conditions. Before year's end, the results of their collective efforts also were for¬ warded to General Washington. Although the Philadelphia ladies had hoped that their contributions could be used to provide "an extraor¬ dinary bounty" beyond the food and clothing due to soldiers by the government, Washington insisted that it was shirts that would provide the greatest comfort to his men. So in late August, Esther Reed began pur¬ chasing linen. Its transformation into shirts unfortunately fell to other hands, however, for Esther Reed died suddenly on September 18, 1780, of a fever. After an autumn of "general sickness" in the city, the Philadelphia women, wanting to stretch their funds as far as possible, began making the shirts themselves. On December 26, 1780, Sarah Franklin Bache for¬ warded more than two thousand shirts to Washington, with the wish that they "be worn with as much pleasure as they were made." —Rosemary Fry Plakas This early episode of American women's collective patriotism can be traced by consulting the following sources: Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789, 26 vols. (Washington: Library of Congress, 1976-2000), 1 5:284, 287, 315-16, 329, 355; William B. Reed, Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, 2 vols. (Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston, 1847), 2: 260-71,429-49; and Pennsylvania Packet (Philadelphia, John Dunlap), June 13, 17, 27; July 8; and November 4, 1780. American Women NOTICE I HERE BY forewarn all persons crediting my wife, Delilah McCon- NELi., on my account, as she has absconded without iny consent. I am therefore de* termined to pav none of her contracts. WILLIAM McConnell. May 15,1828. 13—^ I . TGiPES. Dll IrViy, hS(r» "Notice: I liereb') forewarn all persons against crediting my wife, Delilah 6x!a y<S DB DXJSa D-RT, DXt*^ McConnell." Cherokee Phoenix (New Ecliota, Georgia), May 28, 1828 (Newspaper vaidt). Serial and Government Publications Division. FT JCWP JATiP. D*V^J5GrO^Z IifvRe DX* Notices such as this bilingual one in English and Cherokee from the Chero¬ p.iR-4. c^yii DXJBvi ivjxy^^ kee Phoenix (New Echota, Georgia), refusing to honor an estranged wife's debts, appear in newspapers from the early nineteenth century to the pres¬ DB DXJBa lileShAiSjT. ent day. Since husbands were responsible for the debts and contracts of ©p cpypo-.!. their wives, without this notice William McConnell would have been forced 1828 to pay the debts incurred after his wife's departure. In some locales, news¬ aeyssDA T§ DOoi)E.i, . papers publish the only official statement of record for debt notices, bank¬ ruptcies, and estate announcements. A Library of Congress Guide for the Study of Contributors Sheridan Harvey Humanities and Social Sciences Division Georgia Metos Higley Serial and Government Publications Division Pamela Barnes Craig Law Library of Congress Rosemary Fry Plakas Rare Book and Special Collections Division Jacgueiine Coleburn Special Materials Cataloging Division Janice E. Ruth Manuscript Division Barbara Orbach Natanson Prints and Photographs Division Patricia Molen van Ee Geography and Map Division Robin Rausch Music Division Nancy J. Seeger Recorded Sound Section—Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division Rosemary Hanes with Brian Taves Moving Image Section—Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division James Hardin American Folklife Center Peggy K. Pearlstein and Barbara A. Tenenbaum Area Studies Collections Leslie W. Gladstone Congressional Research Service Sara Day Publishing Office Women’s History and Culture in the United States American Women edited by Sheridan Harvey Humanities and Social Sciences Division Janice E. Ruth Manuscript Division Barbara Orbach Natanson Prints and Photographs Division Sara Day and Evelyn Sinclair Publishing Office Introduction by Susan Ware Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies Harvard University Library of Congress Distributed by Washington University Press of New England 2001 Hanover and London Scholars Advisory Committee Susan WAre Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies I larvard University Eileen Boris University of California, Santa Barbara Joanne i\I. Braxton College of William and Mary Carol IS Karlsen University of Michigan Alice Kessler-11 arris Columbia University Vicki L. Ruiz Arizona Stiite University Design: Adrianne Onderdonk Dudden Introduction copyright © 2001 by Susan Ware Library oi Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data American women : a Library of Congress guide for the study of women's history and culture in the United States / edited by Sheridan Llarvey . . . [et al,] ; introduction by Susan Ware, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8444-1048-9 (alk. paper) 1. W'omen—United States—I listory—Library re¬ sources. 2. Library resources—W'ashington (D.C.) 3. Library of Congress I. Title: Library of Congress guide for the study of v^'omens history and culture in the United States. 11. Harvey, Sheridan, 1945- III. Library of Congress. Z7164.U5 A47 2001 [I IQ 1410] 026'.3()54'()973 —dc21 2001029547 Library of Congress reproduction numbers arc given follow¬ ing identifying information in illustration captions. Ck)p\right restrictions apply tis indicated. Please cite the number (such I'itle Page: Suffrage tent tour at Suffolk County Fair, Long Island, New York, igi-f.- Photograph. Harriot Stanton Blatch Papers {con¬ as LC-USZ62-34299, LC-USZC4-5347, LCMSS-12997-in, tainer lo). Alanuscript Division. LC-MSS-iigg--lo. Al'C 194()/()() I: P05 I, or W I P-iMC-C()()8-20) to order copies of images in this book from the Library of Ciongress, Photo¬ In New York State, groups like Harriot Stanton Blatch's Women's Political Union and Carrie Chapman Catt's Empire State Campaign Committee duplication Seiwice, W ashitigton, DC1 20540-4570; phone mounted an all-out effort In the summer of 1914 to sway male voters who 202 707-5640, fax 202 707-1771. would decide the fate of a state suffrage amendment passed by the legis¬ lature in 1913 and placed on the November 1915 ballot. As part of their I'hc paper in this pnhlicatlon meets the requirements for southern "tent tour," WPU members set up a booth at the Suffolk County permaneiiee established by the American National Standard Fair on Long Island. Eager to attract working mothers to their cause and perhaps to dispel the perception of suffragists as marriage-hating spinsters, ANSI/NISD 2.19.48.1992, Permanence of Paper jar the group offered free baby-sitting to fairgoers. Pnhiicalions and Documents in Libraries anil Archives. Content Overview Preface James H. Eillington .xiii Acknowledgments xv Introduction Susan Ware xix Using the Library of Congress xxxi 1 I he (iCMieral Collections Sheridan Harvey 3 Marching for the Vote: Remembering the Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913 Sheridan Harvey 32 -w Serial and (ioveriiuieiit I’ublietitioiis Division Georgia Metos Higlej' 41 Law Library of Congress Pamela Barnes Craig 69 The Long Road to Equality: What Women Won from the ERA Ratification Effort Leslie W. Gladstone 92 ^4' Rare Book and Special Collections Division Rosemary Fry Plaluis and Jacqueline Colehiirn 101 v) Alannseript Division Janice E. Ruth 123 "With Peace and Freedom Blest!" Woman as Symbol in America, 1590-1800 Sara Day 176 () Prints and Photographs Division Barbara Orbach Natanson 187 Women on the Move: Overland Journeys to California Patricia Molen van Ee 216 ( (Jeography and Map Division Patricia Molen van Ee 227 H Mnsie Division Robin Rausch 253 The House That Marian Built: The MacDowell Colony of Peterborough, New Hampshire Robin Rausch 270 f) Recorded Sound Seetion-Alotion Pietnre. Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division Nancy J. Seeger 279 I 0 Moving linage Section-Motion Pietnre. Broadcasting. and Recorded Sound Division Rosemary Planes with Brian Eaves 301 II American I olklife Center James Hardin 323 ^Vfea Studies Collections Peggy K. Pearlstein and Barbara A. Penenbaiim 341 Abbreviations 371 Notes 373 Index 389 Baker &■ Connvall. Modern Manual d raining School. I^holooraph, /905. Prints and Photop^raphs Division. LC-USZ62-1 Even in the new coeducational public and manual training schools around the turn of the twentieth century, courses of study were often dictated by gender. Girls in this 1905 classroom practice home economics on one side of the room while boys learn about tools for shop on the other.