Precisely on time, our President, Ben Fisher, brought our Club together with a whack of the bell at 12:30pm. We were meeting at the Salvation Army Family Center on Sepulveda Blvd south of Wilshire Blvd, courtesy of PPx2 Diane Good.
Introductions:
The four-way test read to us by new member Sam Botbol.
Our Pledge was led by Nanci Cohen.
Our Greeter was Janet Schwartz.
Our Thought for the Day was offered by John O’Keefe, bringing forth some thoughts from Cole Porter.
In the spirit of John’s Thought for the Day, Pres Ben asked everyone to say something positive to the person next to them. Indeed, even Jim Crane had something to say!
Our Windmill is being written by PP Mark Rogo. (short, fat, balding, old guy)
Pres Ben asked our visiting guests from Silver Lake to introduce themselves; Eden Elfassy , Jarrad Dudley
Speaker:
Our esteemed member, Bill Roen, introduced our guest speaker, Professor Joan Waugh, BA, MA and PhD and a Prof at UCLA. (But before all the single women in the room swooned over Bill’s appearance at our Club meeting).
Prof. Waugh titled her talk “American Women in The Gilded Age” or “The New Woman”
She passed around a syllabus for her class she taught at UCLA, History 139B. It is an incredible summary of the material and teaching materials from the class, and fascinating to read. You can access it by clicking here.
From 1868 – 1900, we will discuss Women of the Gilded Age.
“The U.S. experienced a period of profound transformation.” Much of how we live today can be traced back by that transformation. Much of our world we live in today was formed at that time, including:
· the formation of a national labor movement,
· the growth of big business,
· the rise of a huge middle class,
· the growth of education,
· the development of organized sports, and
· the emergence of the United States as a world power,
Women were the largest political movement into the final years of the 19th century. Piety provided women a sense of moral power. They could control male moral behavior through religious means. Women promoted their value system through the Protestant religious movement;
· The anti-slavery movement,
· The temperance movement,
· The mission movement,
· Charity movements, and
· “Maternalism,” a name given by historians as a source of moral authority.
Women could help city immigrants in ways the city bosses would not, based on a woman’s role in the home. Societies like The women's Christian Temperance Union movement provided the base of the political power wielded by women.
As an example of the growth women were experiencing in their influence, women earning college undergraduate degrees increased dramatically:
· 1870 - 21% of all eligible women
· 1880 32% of all eligible women
· 1910 40% of all eligible women
· 1920 47% of all eligible women
The women's Christian Temperance Union had the largest membership, with 176,000 to 180,000 dues paying members, attacking male drinking habits. The temperance movement came under female leadership in late 1880s. Women brought on more aggressive tactics, like regularly protesting at saloons, experiencing an enormous success rate in small towns. Their goals were to remove the saloons and replace them with kindergarten schools or parks and playgrounds.
Prof. Waugh offered us a little background on industrial pollution, and the growth of the urban city and industrial cities like Milwaukee, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco Pittsburgh; sources of water and waste pollution. All of this played a leading role with women and their influence in the Gilded Age.
Coal was a huge source of air pollution, resulting in dirty air and lung disease, from heat in the tenement homes. Factories near rivers dumped waste products in the rivers that provided drinking water, and it is estimated that 41% of industrial waste in these rivers came from the industrial factories. Overcrowding also played a role. In the late 19th century, New York City boasted 986 persons/acre of land, while Mumbai (Bombay) even today reports 587 persons to the acre and is considered one of the most crowded cities in the world.
In 1880, it is estimated that 1,100 tons of trash was dumped every day in NYC. If it was collected, the garbage was simply dumped offshore.
City environmental disasters and women’s movements made the difference with sewage, garbage, and other forms of pollution. Women of the Gilded Age carved out for themselves a new role as a non-partisan political force. The Suffrage Movement became the best-known of the movements. They were called women’s clubs, leading the way for influence in anti-pollution, protecting women in tenement houses, cleaning up the trash in the cities, combating disease, and tackling typhoid, malaria, smallpox, and tuberculosis.
The women in a civil club in Philadelphia mounted attacks on garbage and other problems. General campaigns were developed, using education and training as a tactic. Middle-class citizens were taught about the need for efficient methods to collect garbage in the cities. Growing political organizations around the country organized to combat disease coming from the garbage piling up in city streets. This is where women’s clubs really began to make a difference in city politics.
· Clean streets,
· Inspecting markets for tainted food,
· Purging unpure water from city supplies,
· Disposing of garbage,
· Getting health inspectors and engineers hired by the city for enforcement.
By the late 1890s, women were the political force emerging behind the new social welfare system. Movements focused on their goal to Christianize the world.
Two important women’s movements came together to take on poverty, health, and other issues. They fused existing organizations with social science. Scientific charity movements and social-house movements merged. Both movements, led by women, battled the city political machines.
Josephine Shaw Lowell headed a New York charity organization, known as the New York Consumers League. Our speaker authored a book on her, titled “Unsentimental Reformer.”
Women started training other women in charities to force issues like moral behavior and were called “agents.” Prof. Waugh told us how these agents rose up in cities and became very combative to force a change in male behavior. One example was a fascinating story of how one woman intimidated a man into the marriage he had promised to his lover that had their child.
All of this was built on the foundation of women’s public presence. Including the Suffrage Movement.
Voting personified the role women would play in the family. All of this led to the urban welfare system in America.
Our members loved it and responded with a boatload of questions and a round of applause.
President Ben thanked our speaker, Professor Joan Waugh and presented her a gift as a token of our appreciation. He also announced that next year’s Club would be led by four different past Presidents, each taking one quarter of the year. They are PPs Diane Good, Tom Barron, Ben Fisher, and Mark Rogo.
Adjourned at 1:30pm by our esteemed President, Ben Fisher, with his new knee.
Respectfully submitted,
PP Mark Rogo,
Chairperson
Diane Good Fan Club
And a member of the friendliest Rotary Club in District 5280.
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