Chapter 1: The Seventeenth Century: A Frontier Society

A Necessary GoodHousewifery and TradeServants and SlavesNative American WomenProphets and SaintsInvisible Furies

Suggested Readings and Sources

Chapter 2: The Eighteenth Century: The Eve of Modernity

Wives and WidowsCharacter and CapacityLegal InstitutionsDiversity of CulturesThe Cradle of the RevolutionThe Pursuit of HappinessFathers and Daughters, Mothers and Sons

Suggested Readings and Sources

Chapter 3: Promoting Woman’s Sphere, 1800-1860

The Home and the WorldPiety and PurityAcademy and Common SchoolReaders and AuthorsFactory and MillCity and FrontierWhite Women in the Antebellum South

Suggested Readings and Sources

Chapter 4: Benevolence, Reform, and Slavery, 1800-1860

Origins of AssociationMoral ReformWomen in SlaveryAbolition and the Woman QuestionCommunitarian Alternatives and Legal RightsThe Women’s Rights Movement

Suggested Readings and Sources

Chapter 5: Women at Work, 1860-1920

Civil War and Women’s WorkThe Black ExperienceThe Trans-Mississippi WestImmigrants, Cities, and Working GirlsWomen in IndustryThe Union ExperienceOffice, Store, and Classroom

Suggested Readings and Sources

Chapter 6: The Rise of the New Woman, 1860-1920

Shrinking FamiliesThe College WomanThe Professional WomanClubwomen and CrusadersEducated HomemakersSocial Housekeepers

Suggested Readings and Sources

Chapter 7: Feminism and Suffrage, 1860-1920

An Independent Suffrage MovementFinding a ConstituencyThe Argument Over SuffrageVoices on the LeftPeace, War, and the Woman’s PartyWomen and the Vote

Suggested Readings and Sources

Chapter 8: Cross-Currents: The 1920s

Feminists in ConflictAspiration and CareerMigrants and ImmigrantsThe New Morality“Pals” and “Partners”Companions and ConsumersContraceptive Politics

Suggested Readings and Sources

Chapter 9: Emergencies: The 1930s and 1940s

Depression FamiliesWorking WomenWomen’s New Deal“Front Page Woman”The Impact of World War IIPostwar Prospects

Suggested Readings and Sources

Chapter 10: High Expectations: 1950-1975

Suburban HousewivesWorking MothersMixed SignalsBlack Women in Postwar AmericaCivil Rights and Women’s LiberationLegitimizing Feminism

Suggested Readings and Sources

Chapter 11: In Search of Equality: Since 1975

Feminism at StalemateWomen in the WorkplaceFamilies in TransitionImmigration, Ethnicity, and DiversityThe Gender GapWomen and the Law

Suggested Readings and SourcesIndex