Role of Women During Progressive

¶ … Role of Women During Progressive Era and Effect on Progressive Era Reforms

Changing Role of women

Effect of changing role on progressive reform

CHANGE OF ROLE OF WOMEN DURING PROGRESSIVE ERA AND EFFECT ON PROGRESSIVE ERA REFORMS

The objective of this work is to answer the questions of: (1) How did the role of women change during the progressive era? And (2) What effect did this have on progressive era reforms?

The progressive reformers, according to a general agreement among historians were individuals "born between 1860 and 1885" (Lindenmeyer, 2003) and were "men and women" who were the "first generation of Americans to come of age in a United States without slavery and an economy dominated by industrialization and urbanization rather than agriculture." (Lindenmeyer, 2003) Most of these individuals were "native-born, white, middle-class urban dwellers" with better access "to education than earlier generations and many were college educated." (Lindenmeyer, 2003)

I. CHANGING ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY

Lindenmeyer states that the "growing influence of the women's rights movement and a greater focus on childhood as a special period of life based on middle-class family ideal signaled new roles for women and children within families and the larger society." (2003) The president during much of this era was Theodore Roosevelt who was only mildly supportive of women's right to vote. However, entrance into World I in 1917 by the United States brought about a change in the role of women in society. The justification used by President Woodrow Wilson for entering WWI was in order to "save the world for democracy" (Lindenmeyer, 2003) and the denial of the right to vote to women in the United States became indefensible.

II. ACHIEVEMENT OF WOMEN IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERA

There were many important reforms achieved by women during the Progressive Era as women worked to "redefine the role of the federal government in American society." (National Women's History Museum, 2007) Included in these reforms was the expansion of the federal government in the areas of education, health, wages, working conditions, sanitation, and social welfare. Some of the key individuals involved in the reform movement included Eleanor Roosevelt, an avid supporter of civil rights for African-Americans; Rose Schneiderman, of the WTUL; Frances Perkins, head of the New York Consumer's League; Mary McLeod Bethune, a civil and women's right activist; and Sue Shelton White, a suffragist. The women reformers played a key role in both the proposal and implementation of the New Deal legislation of Roosevelt, which was comprised greatly of many of these reforms that the women reformers had developed. It is the belief of many historians that "women reformers formed a bridge between the Progressive Era and The New Deal." (National Women's History Museum, 2007)