Instructor:         Dr. Ann Marie Nicolosi
Office Hours:    Tues/Fri 12:45-1:45
Telephone:        X2276
E-Mail              nicolosi@tcnj.edu
 
 

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course will examine the history of women in the United States from the colonial era to the present. We will explore the
diverse ways in which women have lived, worked and contributed to the history of the US. While we will be looking at some of
the "great women" of American history, the course will focus more on the aspects of the general experiences of women and
their political, social, cultural and familial relationships.

COURSE TEXTS:

The Following books are required and are available at the bookstore:

Evans, Sara M. Born for Liberty: A History of Women in America (New York: The Free Press, 1997). (Hereafter
referred to as "Evans")

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter (Watermill Press, 1983).

Freidan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique (New York: Norton & Co., 1983).

Norton, Mary Beth and Ruth M. Alexander, eds. Major Problems in American Women’s History, 2nd edition (Lexington:
D.C. Heath and Company, 1996). (Hereafter referred to as "Norton")

White, Deborah Gray. Ar'n't I a Woman: Female Slaves in the Plantation South (New York: Norton & Co, 1999).

Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi (New York: Bantam, 1968).

In addition there is a required course packet available in the Women's and Gender Studies office, Bliss 116

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Regular attendance, informed participation and Women's History Month events, 25%. It is imperative that you come to class
prepared, as it will count for a quarter of your final grade. You must attend at least two events for Women's History Month and
write a one-page paper on these events.

One 7-10 page paper, 25% Any paper handed in late will lose a grade per day

Mid-term exam, 25%

Final exam, 25%

COURSE READINGS:

(*Indicates a course packet reading)

 January 18         Intro to the course

 January 21         The Study of Women’s History
                          Evans, Introduction.
                          Norton, Chap. 1
                          *DeHart, Jane Sherron and Linda K. Kerber, "Gender and the New
                          Women’s History."
                          *Scott, Joan, "Gender, A Useful Category of Historical Analysis"

 January 25        The First American Women
                          Evans, Chap. 1
                          Norton, Chap. 2
                          *Jensen, Joan M., "Native American Women and Agriculture: A Seneca
                          Case Study."

January 28         The Colonial Experience
                          Evans, Chap. 2
                          *Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher, "The Ways of Her Household."
                          *Carr, Lois G. and Lorena S. Walsh, "The Planter’s Wife: The Experience of
                          White Women in Seventeenth Century Maryland."
                          *Document: The Trial of Anne Hutchinson
                          *Document: Sarah Kemble Knight: A Colonial Woman's Journey,
                          1704-1705

 February 1       Witchcraft and Gender
                          Norton, Chap. 3
                          Begin reading The Scarlet Letter

 February 4        The Scarlet Letter

 February 8        Revolutionary Women
                          Norton, Chap. 4
                          Evans, Chap. 3
                          *Kerber, Linda K., "The Republican Mother."
                          *Document: Catherine Van Cortlandt, The Revolutionary War: Letters
                          of a Loyalist Wife, 1776-1777

 February 11      The Cult of Domesticity
                          Norton, Chap. 5
                          Evans, Chaps. 4 & 6
                          Begin reading Ar'n't I a Woman?

 February 15      The Cult of Domesticity--NOT!
                          *Perdue, Theda, "Cherokee Women and the Trail of Tears."
                          *Boydston, Jeanne, "To Earn Her Daily Bread: Housework and Antebellum
                          Working-Class Subsistence."
                          *Stansell, Women, "Women, Children, and the Uses of the Streets: Class
                          and Gender Conflict in New York City, 1850-1860."

 February 18      Slave Women
                          Norton, Chap. 5
                          White, Ar'n't I a Woman?

 February 22      Radical Women--19th Century Style
                          Norton, Chap. 7
                          Evans, Chap. 5
                          *Painter, Nell Irvin," Sojourner Truth’s Defense of the Rights of Women."

 February 25      *Wellman, Judith, "The Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention: A Study
                          of Social Networks"
                          *Document: The Women’s Centennial Agenda, 1876.
                          In Class Video: Susan B. Anthony: Rebel for the Cause

 February 29     Victorian Sexuality
                          Norton, Chap. 9

 March 3          MIDTERM

 March 7          Women in Industrial America
                          *Peiss, Kathy, "Putting on Style: Working Women and Leisure in
                          Turn-of-the Century New York."
                          Norton, Chapter 11
                          Evans, Chap 7

 March 10          Suffrage and the New Century
                          Norton, Chap. 10 and 12
                          Evans, Chap. 8

 March 14          No Class-Exchange for Women's History Month Events

 March 17         Women and the Depression
                          Norton, 357-364; 370-377
                          Evans, Chap. 9
                          *Jacqueline Jones, "Harder Times: The Great Depression"
                          *Document: Ann Marie Low: A Dust Bowl Diary, 1934-1937

 March 21/24     SPRING BREAK--YEAH!!!!

 March 27         Women at War
                          Norton, 363-370; 377-397
                          Evans, Chap. 10
                          *Berube, Allan, "Marching to a Different Drummer: Lesbian and Gay GIs in
                          World War II."

 March 31         *Document: Catherine Lang, Polly Crow, Hazel M. Burke, Ethel
                          Pendelbury La Palme, KatherineMcReynolds and Edith Sokol Speert:
                          Letters from the Homefront and the Battlefront, 1941-1945
                          *Milkman, Ruth, "Gender at Work: The Sexual Division of labor During
                          World War II"
                          *Document: Augusta H. Clawson: Shipyard Diary of a Woman Welder,
                          1943
                          In Class Video: America Goes to War: String of Pearls
                          Begin Reading Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi and Friedan, The
                          Feminine Mystique

 April 4              PAPERS DUE
                          Women in Post-War America, or The Rise and Fall of June Cleaver
                          Norton, Chap. 14
                          Evans, Chap. 11

 April 7             *Hartmann, Susan., "Women's Employment and the Domestic ideal in the
                          Early Cold War Years"
                          *Garrison, Dee, "Our Skits Gave Them Courage: The Civil Defense Protest
                          Movement in New York City, 1955-1961"
                          *Swerdlow, Amy, "Ladies Day at the Capitol: Women Strike for Peace and
                          HUAC"

April 11             Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi

April 14              Radical Women-20th Century Style
                          Freidan, The Feminine Mystique

 April 18            Norton, Chap. 15
                          Evans, Chap. 12 & 13

 April 21            *Document; "Remembering Viet Nam"
                          *Document: "Making the Personal Political: Challenging Feminism"
                          *Document: Sharon Lane and Lynda Van Devanter: Letters From
                          Vietnam, 1969
                          In Class Video: Gloria Steinem

 April 25            Women in the Eighties, Nineties, and Beyond
                          Norton, Chap. 16
                          Evans, 14

April 28             Last Day of Class
                         Wrap-up and Review