One of Bryn Mawr College’s most distinguished alumnae is Emily Greene Balch, who, in 1889, became a member of the school’s first graduating class. In an era in which bachelor’s degrees for women were still a novelty and post-college careers were even more rare, Balch set herself apart by effecting real change on both the local and global scale. Her history stands in direct opposition to the dissenting voices of her time that asserted that women were not worth educating, and her achievements appear no less remarkable today.
Born in 1867, Balch grew up in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston. Though she would later convert to Quakerism in 1921, she was heavily influenced by her Unitarian upbringing. Late in her life she would recall a sermon by Unitarian minister Charles Fletcher Dole that inspired her to dedicate herself to the “service of goodness whatever its cost” when she was just ten years old. “In accepting this pledge,” she wrote, “I never abandoned in any degree my desire to live up to it.” Balch was also a dedicated student: her excellent
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Her active involvement in international politics began while she was still teaching at Wellesley: in 1915 she joined the International Congress of Women at The Hague, an organization that took the stance of promoting mediation rather than military action in response to the conflict in Europe. However, her outspoken avowal of peace during the war was controversial, eventually leading to her dismissal from Wellesley College. U.S. delegation to the International Conference of Women for a Permanent Peace, held at The Hague, The Netherlands, 1915. After departing from Wellesley in 1918, Balch continued to champion peace both in her editorial work with The Nation and in her co-founding (with Jane Addams) of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. In 1946, she became the third woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace
Despite his addiction, he was an itinerant Methodist preacher. Although he was not in very good shape, he still taught Dorothea to read and write before going to school to be ahead of the others. This influenced
Lucretia Mott was an important activist in the Civil War because she spoke out against slavery and promoted women's rights. At a young age she became aware of the inequality among men and women, as well as the disgust towards slavery. She devoted her life to being heard among all people for human equality. She fought for equality until her death. Lucretia Coffin, later known as Lucretia Mott, was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on January 3, 1793.
She was born to a Quaker tradition family with a strong “tone of independence and moral zeal” (Britannica, 2017). Because of her families Quaker
Even after learning that her religion was not as equal, Lucretia was still very involved with the Quaker community. In 1818 after Lucretia finished her schooling, she became a minister. This gave Lucretia a monumental platform for shared her views. While doing these speeches, she also made many powerful connections with people and organizations who shared similar views.
Women also primarily learned from their mothers of all the responsibilities “that a competent eighteenth-century woman” should accept as her own (3). This would explain why “Abigail did not herself aspire to anything more than being a good wife and mother, but Abigail still believed women should be better educated (45–46). In Abigail’s mind, there was nothing wrong with being both. In this way Abigail Adams was a “prisoner of the times” (xiii). She could do little more than educate herself and her female relatives privately without harming her or her husband’s reputation.
Jane Addams did deserve the noble peace prize she received because the award if given to characters in society that have devoted their time to create peace, and Jane Addams was the chairman of the women’s peace party after protesting against the U.S’s entry into world war 1, she also aided Herbert Hoover in feeding the women and children of enemy nations as well as created a home for underprivileged children to sleep and eat, and she fought for the equality of women and their
In the colonial era, women did not have many rights, and people did not consider them as equals to men, especially in Puritan New England where the Puritan beliefs governed society. Society expected women to get married, have children, and obey their husbands; they considered anything outside of these limitations as radical confrontations to the law. The woman’s main contribution to society was to teach the young girls about the customs and appropriate behaviors of a woman (Jolliffe, Roskelly, 242.45). Strict barriers existed in a woman’s life, and if a woman were to break those boundaries, like Anne Hutchinson - a revolutionary Puritan spiritual advisor - did, critics accused them of being non-compliant and harmful to society. They considered
Her goal was to get women to participate on and legal basis with men in politics. She attended Iowa State University. She was successful and was given a plaque
Although it was common for girls to receive an education no higher than reading for knowing more was seen as unfit for marriage (Archives: Part One, Women’s Education), she accomplished both reading and writing at home while having access to her family’s large
Women’s Role’s Edith Wharton born in 1862 became a world known writer. Focusing mainly on class structure and women’s roles, Wharton portrayed to the world the lives of people during the 20th century. Gender inequality, as well as moral and ethical dilemma was a prominent issue not only in society but, became evident throughout Wharton’s writing. Determined to share her experiences with the world Wharton disguised moral and economic situations in literature that allowed readers to connect mentally. During an era where social class and wealth defined a person’s entity, Wharton seemed to focus mainly on the higher class structure.
While The Citadel does not allow women, the Ivy league is of the most selective academically in the country. Students of The Citadel absolutely reject the idea of women entering the school. While this seems to be out of sexism it is truly out of fear. Students at The Citadel are able to perform connotated feminine tasks, and have real emotions and bonds, however this is hidden beneath the manly attitude students must have. To have this sense of humanity they must act like, “a man of rigid bearing, a man no more than Tiffany’s southern belle is a female, a man that no one, humanly can be” (Faludi 103).
Before Elizabeth Blackwell got her MD in 1849 no woman had ever been a doctor in America. Blackwell fought through massive sexism to even find a college which would accept her, and did not even become a doctor for her own passion for the medical field rather for the plea of an ill friend. Blackwell had a strong character. She was concerned with matters of justice and morality, she sought challenges, and she was a determined, strong willed person. These qualities made her outstandingly successful in her career.
The Coquette; or, the History of Eliza Wharton features a woman in early republican America who wants to be happy. Eliza Wharton’s fiancée dies before she is married, and she finds herself delighted at the chance to restructure her life to make her happy. Her pursuit of happiness in life is condemned and deemed immature by those around her, as well as her insistence on making her choices without input from her peers. Eliza Wharton matches Immanuel Kant’s definition of an Enlightened man in An Answer to the Question, “What is Enlightenment?” (1784) by deciding her actions “without the guidance of another.”
Mary Wollstonecraft’s A vindication of the rights of women written in 1792 can be considered one of the first feminist documents, although the term appeared much later in history. In this essay, Wollstonecraft debates the role of women and their education. Having read different thinkers of the Enlightenment, as Milton, Lord Bacon, Rousseau, John Gregory and others, she finds their points of view interesting and at the same time contrary to values of the Enlightenment when they deal with women’s place. Mary Wollstonecraft uses the ideas of the Enlightenment to demand equal education for men and women. I will mention how ideals of the Enlightenment are used in favor of men but not of women and explain how Wollstonecraft support her “vindication” of the rights of women using those contradictions.
The document "On the Equality of the Sexes" by Judith Sargent Murray reveals the author's arguments on gender inequality in America. Published in 1790 in the Massachusetts Magazine, Murray's thoughts on the matter of women's education stems from her own experience on denied opportunities because of her gender. She was not allowed to attend college for the simple fact that she was a female, but had studied alongside her brother while he was preparing for college. This shows that despite her sex, she was just as capable as a male in terms of intellectual capacity and it was unfair that she was not allowed to further this pursuit.