Women From 1850 To 1950 Essay

During the early 1800's women were stuck in the Cult of Domesticity. Women had been issued roles as the moral keepers for societies as well as the nonworking house-wives for families. Also, women were considered unequal to their male companions legally and socially. However, women’s efforts during the 1800’s were effective in challenging traditional intellectual, social, economical, and political attitudes about a women’s place in society.

The Hull House was founded in Chicago and became the mecca for other settlement houses that was birth do to the success of the Hull House. This establishment operated by building a social bridge that connected social classes. “Addams believed the settlement house provided a service both yo the volunteer residence, who needed a purpose in life, and to an increasingly stratified society at large (Wendy L. Haight & Taylor, 2013).” There were three purposes the settlement house served which was to provided services and assistance to immigrants, policy advocacy, and an important piece that heightened national social reform to the next level; “Jane Addams noted social reform was imperative if the poor were to have any help (Dale &

Jane Addams and her colleague, Ellen Gates Starr, founded the most successful settlement house in the United States otherwise known as the Hull-House (“Settlement” 1). It was located in a city overrun by poverty, filth and gangsters, and it could not have come at a better time (Lundblad 663). The main purpose of settlement houses was to ease the transition into the American culture and labor force, and The Hull-House offered its residents an opportunity to help the community, was a safe haven for the city, and led the way through social reform for women and children.

The Hull House acted as an employment center, library, day care center, and school for the community, more aimed towards people who did not already have the resources to get the services listed. The main reasons why settlement houses were important was because it was one of the only working systems that could effectively help poor individuals and immigrants learn middle-class values, as well as American values involving literature, labor, and lifestyle. The settlement houses allowed for more wealth and resource distribution toward the lower class that heavily helped the economy in the nineteenth century. Most settlement houses also provided kitchens, bathing and hygiene stations, as well as centers for recreational activities involving dancing, arts, and sports. Overall, the settlement houses were a pivotal part in the economy during the nineteenth century because it provided a link between being an immigrant and being in the middle class while having financial stability.

Women’s roles have changed greatly throughout history. As the advancement of culture, laws, and ideas altered ways of life, women’s lives also evolved in numerous aspects of society. Women’s roles changed greatly between 1815 and 1860. During this time, family dynamics changed as the mothers that were placed at the center of the household were given greater freedoms. In addition, women had more opportunity to take on jobs in the workplace. Women also fought for reform movements that altered their ways of life in the community. During the reform era of the United States, factors such as religion, education, and reforms greatly changed women’s roles in the family, workplace, and society.

The settlement house movement was a success in many ways. It helped to improve the lives of the poor and working class, and it also helped to raise awareness of the problems that they faced. The settlement house movement also helped to inspire other social movements, such as the civil rights movement and the women's suffrage movement. Some of the most famous settlement houses include Hull House in Chicago, Henry Street Settlement in New York City, and Toynbee Hall in London. These settlement houses were founded by social reformers such as Jane Addams, Lillian Wald, and Arnold Toynbee.

Hull House was a place for the poor to settle and have a relaxed time from work or the struggle. The house provided child care, basic health care and classes for the poor (Presentation 10/5). ”Lumbering our minds with literature that only served to cloud the really vital situation spread before our eyes”(Addams, pg. 71). Addams believed learning unneccessary skills in college like literature represents education losing its value in the society. Addams focused on acquiring skills that could be used in vital situations. The House was used to improve the conditions in the communities for poor and learn domestic and educational skills to be used in their daily lives. There were many activities for people of all ages. “The Hull House Labor Museum

The Progressive Era was a time of social work, the struggle for women’s rights, and millions of immigrants expanding into the United States. During the era, there was many poverty stricken neighborhoods. Poverty reforms were created to help poverty in the U.S., one of them being settlement houses. Settlement houses were influenced by Toynbee Hall in London. Their idea was that students and wealthy people should “settle” in impoverished neighborhood and provide services and improve the lives of the neighborhoods and those living in them. Settlement houses were designed to help the poor, including immigrants, with the help of middle class workers, in an effort to improve the neighborhoods in the poorest parts of the cities.

Women of the 1950’s through the 1960’s are ridden with male oppression and self-esteem issues. The book Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates and an episode of Mad Men titled The Shoot have a lot in common. The differences and similarities between the leading women in both of these stories from the 1950’s show that times are different today. The women of the 1950’s had a dream for the future and their dream has finally become a reality for American women. From Mad Men, Betty Draper’s dream of becoming a model and in Revolutionary Road, April Wheeler’s dream of traveling the world are actual realities for women today. Their dreams show similarities, differences and the “American Dream” that every woman has.

In the mid to late 1700's, the women of the United States of America had practically no rights. When they were married, the men represented the family, and the woman could not do anything without consulting the men. Women were expected to be housewives, to raise their children, and thinking of a job in a factory was a dream that was never thought impossible. But, as years passed, women such as Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Elizabeth Blackwell began to question why they were at home all day raising the children, and why they did not have jobs like the men. This happened between the years of 1776 and 1876, when the lives and status of Northern middle-class woman was changed forever. Women began to

the house becoming the homemaker once the war was over. The 1950s has also been

Settlement houses provided a safe place for poor residents to receive medical care and provided nurseries for the children of working mothers. Settlement house offered meals and employment. Lillian Ward another reformer like Jane moved to lower east side of New York City to become a nurse and help the residents of the settlement houses. Jane and Lillian gave the immigrants a home and showed them what America was

The gender roles in America have changed tremendously since the end of the American Civil War. Women and men, who once lived in separate spheres are now both contributing to American society. Women have gone from the housewife so playing key roles in the country's development in all areas. Though our society widely accepts women and the idea that our society is gender neutral, the issues that women once faced in the late 1860s are still here.

The Settlement House Movement began in the early 1800s and was a changing force in social policy and led to the further development of social work. The Settlement House Movement greatly influences present day social work practice because it provided a premise for what

Women in the nineteenth century, for the most part, had to follow the common role presented to them by society. This role can be summed up by what historians call the “cult of domesticity”. The McGuffey Readers does a successful job at illustrating the women’s role in society. Women that took part in the overland trail as described in “Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey” had to try to follow these roles while facing many challenges that made it very difficult to do so.