American Women in 1900-1930
Suffragist Movement
The women’s
suffrage movement takes its roots in the 19th century, but it was
the 20th century when the women finally got their right to vote. It
was the time when American feminists and suffragists clearly stated the natural
right of a woman to determine herself as a conscious member of society. This
point of view was, however, not supported by the majority of the male American
population. Indeed, the Women’s suffrage parade in 1913, planned as a peaceful
act in support of constitutional amendment providing women a right to vote, led
to hundreds of injured demonstrators.
Click here to learn more about the Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913
Click here to learn more about the Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913
See The Wall Street Journal gallery on suffragettes
The activists of women’s movements were very often arrested and sentenced to hard labor for sharing in the demonstrations. Miss Alice Paul invented the suffragettes’ “hunger strike” and practiced it during her stay in prison. She refused eating or wearing clothes. In one of the articles of that time she described her experience of being fed through nostrils:
The activists of women’s movements were very often arrested and sentenced to hard labor for sharing in the demonstrations. Miss Alice Paul invented the suffragettes’ “hunger strike” and practiced it during her stay in prison. She refused eating or wearing clothes. In one of the articles of that time she described her experience of being fed through nostrils:
"I practiced a hunger strike until November 11th. After that day they fed me twice a day by force… I spent the whole time in bed, because I refused to wear prison clothes. Each day, I was wrapped in blankets and taken to another cell to be fed, the food being injected through my nostrils. During this operation the largest Wardress in Holloway sat astride my knees, holding my shoulders down to keep me from bending forward. Two other wardresses sat on either side to keep my arms. Then a towel was placed around my throat, and one doctor from behind forced my head back, while another doctor put a tube in my nostril. When it reached my throat my head was pushed forward."
Click here to see more
A remarkable day in the history of women’s fight for their rights was August 18, 1920, when the 19th amendment to the US Constitution was ratified. It contained only 39 words but guaranteed women a solid role in the political life of the country. Not that American politics did not accept women at all. A couple of years before, in 1916, Jeanette Rankin from Montana was the first woman to be elected to the Congress.
A remarkable day in the history of women’s fight for their rights was August 18, 1920, when the 19th amendment to the US Constitution was ratified. It contained only 39 words but guaranteed women a solid role in the political life of the country. Not that American politics did not accept women at all. A couple of years before, in 1916, Jeanette Rankin from Montana was the first woman to be elected to the Congress.
Activists of Women's Movements
Some archives and galleries for you to find out more about the eminent women who contributed to the development of women's rights at the dawn of the 20th century:
Flappers
So came a woman into the ‘roaring 20s’, conscious about her right to choose in any aspect of her life. A new kind of modern woman gained popularity, a flapper. She embodied the new generation of young single ladies who in no way resembled their mothers. Traditionally women wore long hair and showed no flesh. The flapper had her hair cut or bobbed, wore skirts which showed her arms and legs from knee. She worked in the day and had fun in the night. She drank in public, danced charleston and was fascinated by fashions from Paris. This image was so unique that it inspired writers of that epoch and occured in silent films. The flapper characters in cinematography were played by Louise Brooks, Colleen Moore, Clara Bow and other legendary actresses.
We found a New York Times article on the flapper’s issue dated 1922:
We found a New York Times article on the flapper’s issue dated 1922:
“Besides short skirts, paint and powder, and shirt hair, what distinguishes the so-called flapper from any one else in this age? Her cynicism? I believe in this the flapper and the so-called cake-eater are only reflecting the spirit of the times. The after-war reaction accounts for this in the flapper, as it does in the business man and other types. In my opinion, it all comes back to the old tendency of each generation to view with profound and self-righteous disapproval the new things ushered in by the new generation. The time will never be, probably, when the young folk are regarded in any other light than as bent upon their own destruction and that of the entire human race”.
The whole article uploaded below:
Harlem Renaissance And The New Negro
The dawn of the 20th century is also connected with the New Negro Movement, which began after African Americans had moved from rural South to the cities of industrial North. They usually settled down in close neighbourhood. Thus, Harlem in New York City was mostly the home for black population in the beginning of the 20th century. After the WWII the black soldiers returned from Europe where they were treated as heroes to encounter frustrating segregation politics in their homeland. The growth of their social and political consciousness resulted in the New Negro movement with its centre in Harlem. The New Negro was full of pride and dignity. Harlem Renaissance was an era of African American talents. The New Negroes of the 1920s included poets, novelists, Blues singers, jazz musicians creating their art out of Negro folk heritage and history [6]. The New Negro women were not invisible in their Harlem society nor outside of it [5]. This era gave the world outstanding women writers, poets and suffragettes.
The most famous books written by African American women writers of Harlem Renaissance:
The most famous books written by African American women writers of Harlem Renaissance:
Bibliography
1. Erenberg, Lewis A. Stepping Out: New York Nightlife and the Transformation of American Culture, 1890-1930. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1981.
2. Evans, Sara M. Born for Liberty: A History of Women in America. New York: Free Press, 1989.
3. Freedman, Estelle B. No turning back : the history of feminism and the future of women. New York : Ballantine, 2002.
4. Freedman, Estelle B. The New Woman: Changing Views of Women in the 1920s. The Journal of American History 61, no. 2 (September 1974)
www.jstor.org
5. Lauren Anderson. "Prove it on me" New Negro Woman. s-usih.org
6. Lorraine Elena Roses, Ruth Elizabeth Randolph, Harlem's Glory: Black Women Writing 1900-1950. Harvard University Press, 1997.
7. New Negro: Wikipedia article wikipedia.org
8. Mead, Rebecca J. How the vote was won : woman suffrage in the western United States, 1868-1914. New York : New York University Press, 2004.
9. Muncy, Robyn. Creating a Female Dominion in American Reform, 1890-1935. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
10. Rymph, Catherine E. Republican women : feminism and conservatism from suffrage through the rise of the new right. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.
11. Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn. "Discontented Black Feminists: Prelude and Postscript to the Passage of the 19th Amendment," in Decades of Discontent: The Women's Movement, 1920-1940. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1983.
12. Zeitz, Joshua. Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern.New York: Crown Publishers, 2006.
2. Evans, Sara M. Born for Liberty: A History of Women in America. New York: Free Press, 1989.
3. Freedman, Estelle B. No turning back : the history of feminism and the future of women. New York : Ballantine, 2002.
4. Freedman, Estelle B. The New Woman: Changing Views of Women in the 1920s. The Journal of American History 61, no. 2 (September 1974)
www.jstor.org
5. Lauren Anderson. "Prove it on me" New Negro Woman. s-usih.org
6. Lorraine Elena Roses, Ruth Elizabeth Randolph, Harlem's Glory: Black Women Writing 1900-1950. Harvard University Press, 1997.
7. New Negro: Wikipedia article wikipedia.org
8. Mead, Rebecca J. How the vote was won : woman suffrage in the western United States, 1868-1914. New York : New York University Press, 2004.
9. Muncy, Robyn. Creating a Female Dominion in American Reform, 1890-1935. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
10. Rymph, Catherine E. Republican women : feminism and conservatism from suffrage through the rise of the new right. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.
11. Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn. "Discontented Black Feminists: Prelude and Postscript to the Passage of the 19th Amendment," in Decades of Discontent: The Women's Movement, 1920-1940. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1983.
12. Zeitz, Joshua. Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern.New York: Crown Publishers, 2006.