Macalester College Spring 2005

History 230-01/American Studies 294-07 Peter Rachleff

Women & Work in U.S. History

T/Th 10:10 – 11:40 AM, Old Main 001 X 6371/Old Main 306

Women make up a growing segment of the U.S. workforce. While the percentage of workers belonging to unions has fallen steadily since the 1950s, the percentage of women workers organized has actually risen. Not only do most women work outside their homes today, but a majority of women with children under the age of one are working outside their homes. Working women come from every racial and ethnic group, and women work in every sector of the economy. How did we reach this point? How does this compare to the experiences of women in the early years of U.S. history? And where might working women be headed?

These are some of the key issues that we will explore in this class. We will use a variety of sources to do so – scholarly studies, primary documents, memoirs, novels, poems, films, and more. The reading load for this class is substantial, although I am confident that you will find the material continually stimulating. We will also hear from some guest speakers and attend some events off campus. Class sessions will vary from lectures to discussions to small group work. (This course satisfies the domestic diversity requirement.)

You are expected to attend class regularly and to come to class prepared to participate in discussions of the assignments. At times, I will use email to pose questions for you to consider in preparation for class, and I would be delighted if you, too, used email to raise questions for all of us as you engage the material. Your attendance and participation will be factors in your grade. You will be expected to turn in a “reaction paper” most Tuesdays (due in class – absolutely no extensions; hard copies – no email) in which you discuss (at whatever length you think appropriate) the most interesting idea you engaged in the previous week (readings, documents, films, out of class activities, in class discussions, connections to other classes, personal experiences, etc.). These will be graded on a check-minus, check, check-plus basis. You will be expected to turn in at least 8 of these papers. You will be also assigned two essay papers, one in each half of the semester, which you can tackle in cooperative teams if you would like. In the first half, it will involve working with the manuscript census of population for 1870 and 1880, and, in the second half, it will involve working with oral history interviews. There will also be one critical book review required. And there will be an optional final paper.

The following books are available for purchase at the bookstore. I hope that they will also be available on two hour reserve at the library:

Ulrich, A MIDWIFE’S TALE

Hunter, TO ‘JOY MY FREEDOM

Baron, ed., WORK ENGENDERED

Enstad, LADIES OF LABOR, GIRLS OF ADVENTURE

Choy, EMPIRE OF CARE

Kessler-Harris, OUT TO WORK

Polishuk, STICKING TO THE UNION

Chang, DISPOSABLE DOMESTICS

Yoon Louie, SWEATSHOP WARRIORS

2.

Daily syllabus (subject to change)

T 1/25 Introduction to the course

Begin video: “A Midwife’s Tale”

Women’s Work in the Colonial Era

Th 1/27 Reproductive Labor and the Colonial Economy

Read: A MIDWIFE’S TALE, Introduction, 1-35

OUT TO WORK, 1, 1-19

T 2/1 Reproductive Labor, Productive Labor, and Community-Building

Read: A MIDWIFE’S TALE, 36-133

reaction paper due

Th 2/3 Family Cycles and Historical Change

Read: A MIDWIFE’S TALE, 134-203

Special event: Aurora Levins Morales on “History, Poetry, and Justice”

at noon, 4^th floor lounge, Old Main

T 2/8 Commercialization, Commodification, and Women’s Work

Read: A MIDWIFE’S TALE, 204-352

reaction paper due

Th 2/10 Women’s Work in the Colonial Economy

Read: OUT TO WORK, 2 & 3, 20-72

2/11 – 2/12 African American Studies Conference: “Incarcerated Intelligence”

T 2/15 Thinking About Women’s Work

Read: Baron, “Gender and Labor History,” in WORK ENGENDERED

(henceforth WE), 1-46

reaction paper due

Industrial Revolution and Women’s Work

Th 2/17 Industrialization and the (Re)Gendering of Work

Read: Baron, “An ‘Other’ Side of Gender Antagonism at Work,”

WE, 46-69

OUT TO WORK, 4, 75-107

T 2/22 Race, Gender, and Work

Read: TO ‘JOY MY FREEDOM, Prologue, 1-4, pp. 1-97

Janiewski, “Southern Honor, Southern Dishonor,” in WE, 70-91

reaction paper due

3.

Th 2/24 Manuscript Census of Population – Meet at the Library

Hand out paper assignment #1, due 3/10

Read: TO ‘JOY MY FREEDOM, 5-7, 98-167

T 3/1 Resistance and Agency

Read: TO ‘JOY MY FREEDOM, 8-10, pp. 168-240

Reaction paper due

Th 3/3 Continuing Industrialization and Changes in Women’s Work

Read: OUT TO WORK, 5 & 6, 108-179

T 3/8 Continuing Industrialization and Changes in Women’s Work

Read: Blewett, “Manhood and the Market,” WE, 92-113

Boris, “A Man’s Dwelling House is His Castle,” WE, 114-141

DeVault, “Give the Boys a Trade,” WE, 191-215

Reaction paper due

Women and Remaking the Working Class

Th 3/10 Immigration and Industrialization

Read: Hewitt, “The Voice of Virile Labor,” and Kwolek-Folland,

“Gender, Self, and Work in the Life Insurance Industry,” WE,

142-190

Paper #1 due

T 3/15 Women, Mass Culture, Agency, and Resistance

Read: LADIES OF LABOR, GIRLS OF ADVENTURE, Intro-3, 1-119

Reaction paper due

Hand out book review assignment, due 3/31

Th 3/17 Women, Mass Culture, Agency, and Resistance

Read: LADIES OF LABOR, GIRLS OF ADVENTURE, 4-Con., 120-208

3/22 – 3/24 SPRING BREAK

T 3/29 Socio-Economic Change and Ideology

Read: OUT TO WORK, 7 & 8, 180-249

Cobble, “Drawing the Line,” WE, 216-242

Th 3/31 Socio-Economic Change and Ideology

Read: Hall, “Private Eyes, Public Women,” and Frank, “Gender, Consumer

Organizing, and the Seattle Labor Movement,” WE, 243-295

Book review due

4.

T 4/5 Women and Work in the Great Depression

Read: Faue, “Paths of Unionization,” and Cooper, “The Faces of Gender,”

WE, 296-350

OUT TO WORK, 9, 250-273

Reaction paper due

Women and Work in a Changing World

Th 4/7 Colonialism, Immigration, and Emotional Labor

Read: EMPIRE OF CARE, I and II, 1-118

T 4/12 Colonialism, Immigration, and Emotional Labor

Read: EMPIRE OF CARE, III and Epilogue, 119-192

Reaction paper due

Th 4/14 Women’s Work and WWII: Rosie the Riveter?

Read: OUT TO WORK, 10 and 11, 273 – 319

Gabin, “Time Out of Mind,” WE, 351-374

T 4/19 Women and Working-Class Activism

Read: STICKING TO THE UNION, 1-14, 1-166

Reaction paper due

Hand out essay paper #2, due 5/5

Th 4/21 Women and Working-Class Activism

Read: STICKING TO THE UNION, 15-21, 167-236

T 4/26 Women Workers and the Global Economy

Read: SWEATSHOP WARRIORS, 1-3, 1-178

Th 4/28 Women Workers and the Global Economy

Read: SWEATSHOP WARRIORS, 4-6, 171-256

Hand out optional final, due 5/9

T 5/3 Women Workers and the Global Economy

Read: DISPOSABLE DOMESTICS

Th 5/5 Essay paper #2 due

Special event: Liza Featherstone speaks on women workers and Wal-Mart

M 5/9 Optional final paper due by 10 am