Progressives

Progressive Era

A loosely defined political movement aiming to bring significant change to American social and political life.

Immigrant women

Worked more in factories

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

A tragic event on March 25, 1911, where 146 people died due to a fire in a building where 500 female workers were locked in.

Double (second) shift

The situation where women have to work and take care of their children when they are not at work.

Female seminaries

A “high school” for women to go when education was scarce. General topics taught included: ornamental, religion, domestic, morals, literature

Women & work

1. More women working than ever before (especially after marriage). White women had more variety of jobs available while immigrant women worked in factories, African American women worked in domestic services, Latino women were migrant/agriculture workers. A few work-related issues that arose were lower pay, childcare, and the second shift

Birth control

Methods like condoms, spermicide douches, vaginal pessaries, and womb veils used to prevent pregnancy.

Anthony Comstock

Creator of the Comstock Act, which prohibited the mailing of contraceptive information and anything deemed obscene, promoting the belief that sex was solely for procreation.

Settlement Houses

Organizations offering support to immigrants through services like nursing, education, playgrounds, shelter, and health clinics.

Mueller vs Oregon

a U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court considered whether a state could limit the amount of hours a woman could work while not also limiting the hours of men.

Madame CJ Walker

First female self-made millionaire, daughter of ex-slaves, picked cotton & laundress, sold hair care and cosmetics

Gertrude Simmons Bonnin

fought for women's suffrage and Indigenous voting rights in the early 20th century. Helped create 1924 Indian Citizenship act and helped save Native American culture and secure full citizenship