Onward West

            In the late 19^th and early 20^th century, the America was expanding westward. The government tried to encourage travel to this new west region with the Homestead Act of 1862. A lot of people lived on the East side of America and did not want to move out of what was comfortable to them. In the book Nothing Daunted, Two society girls, Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood, lived in Auburn, New York to study at Smith College. Dorothy and Ros were poor examples of the average women in America at this time. Dorothy and Ros were a part of rich families and were best friends early in their childhood. They also were a part of the same sorority, Phi Kappa, Psi. Since their families were in the upper class of society, they got most of their things paid for them. One of the ways they were different from other women, is that they had uncommon expectations. Others hoped for a M.A. or getting Ph.D.’s, Dorothy and Ros were looking forward to their M.A.N. and getting M-r-s in front of their name.[1] Dorothy and Ros spent a lot of their time on charity work and planning parties. At this time, they were expected to look for a husband and make a family.

Dorothy Woodruff (left) and Rosamond Underwood at Smith College

http://photos.syracuse.com/post-standard/2011/08/nothing_daunted_by_dorothy_wic_3.html

The two women went to Europe and were very interested in their travels. They got back to Auburn feeling bored of the typical routines. Dorothy and Ros were getting older that some would consider them not able to get married. The women were, “bothered by the idea of settling into a staid life of marriage and motherhood without having contributed anything to people who could benefit from the few talents and experiences they had to offer”.[2] These two clearly had a different outlook than the typical women at this time. Women at this time would get work until they were married, but Dorothy and Ros wanted something else. Dorothy later heard about a job in Colorado who needed two school teachers. “No young lady in our town,” she later recalled, “had ever been hired by anybody.” Oddly enough, she wanted to go to Colorado to teach and convinced Ros to come with her as well. They both applied and later got the job. In their town, young ladies have never even been hired before, but they applied for a teaching job when they had a chance.[3] This is an example of how they were not the typical rich lady. The job requirements were low and were not expecting much in the position. “We knew not the slightest thing about teaching, absolutely nothing”.[4] This is another example of uniqueness because of their drive to do something that they were not training to do, unlike other women. Although they did not know anything about teacher, they said that they would do their best. It was unusual that an upper class society girl would decide to travel west, but it was known to be the best year of their live.

            Nearing their date of departure, they got word that the War with Mexico was getting close. Dorothy and Ros had to deny the position because the war that was about to start. The war was later prevented and they wanted to get their job back. The next school year was coming around, when they telegrammed them asking if the position is still open. The got a response that the position was still open. Later they left the comfort of their home to depart to Elkhead Mountains to teach for a school year.

            Dorothy and Ros mostly traveled to the place by train. Both of them were amazed by many things during their travel. They were much different then what the locals were used to seeing when arrived at the place. Ferry Carpenter, who gave them their jobs, had staked a claim of 160 acres by the Homestead Act of 1862. Dorothy and Ros taught at a schoolhouse on top of a mountain. Elkhead was a place that snowed half the year and often could have hard conditions to live in. Sometimes the snow got so high that it would be difficult to ride a horse through it.

            During their trip, they saw a lot of American history in the making. Both of the women taught students that travelled miles in tough condition to be there. The students adored the women as they were taught. The students often did not have some basic necessities like shoes and sweaters. The women were involved more than just teaching students at a schoolhouse. Involvement like them completing chores, attending schoolhouse parties and all-night dances. Coming from wealthy families, they did not do chores because they had people to do it for them. They were then taught how to do many things that they never learned. Significant events like the expulsion of the Ute Indians, the building of the railroad, and visiting large coal mines that the men worked at. Dorothy and Ros were a part of the great westward expansion and America’s growth.

Dorothy and Rosamond with their students at Elkhead

http://photos.syracuse.com/post-standard/2011/08/nothing_daunted_by_dorothy_wic.html

Bob Perry managed the largest coal mine that was relatively near where the women stayed. The workers working the mine were under harsh conditions. A lot of these workers were Greek and when some of them were not happy with their job at the mine, they kidnapped Perry. The two men that kidnapped Perry demanded that he write a ransom note to his father, who was the owner of the mines. Perry wrote the ransom, but later shot one of the captors as he escaped. As Dorothy and Ros end their trip, they head back to New York. Both of them got married after they got back.

---

[1] Wickenden, Dorothy. Nothing daunted: the unexpected education of two society girls in the West. New York, NY: Scribner, 2011. 36.

[2] Wickenden, Dorothy. Nothing daunted: the unexpected education of two society girls in the West. New York, NY: Scribner, 2011. 13.

[3] Wickenden, Dorothy. Nothing daunted: the unexpected education of two society girls in the West. New York, NY: Scribner, 2011. 82.

[4] Wickenden, Dorothy. Nothing daunted: the unexpected education of two society girls in the West. New York, NY: Scribner, 2011. 86.

Fighting for Women’s Rights

            Throughout this particular reading, there were several aspects that were drawn to race, class, age, and country of origin. Women were often seen as the “underdog,” or “housewives” in many cases, and the men were considered as providers. Women didn’t typically work when they were married, but as time moved on women began to work in factories. Of course, they were not paid as much as men were, but still had a place in the work industry. Also, when it came to protesting, there were protests held by women to let society know that they were not being paid fairly, and were working in horrible conditions that a lot no longer wanted to tolerate. Then, as the reading moved towards Women’s Rights, it explained Women’s Suffrage and how there were many people who protested for Women’s Rights. Some were radicals who would do illegal acts to get attention about the issue.

According to a Supreme Court case, it was up to the states to decide if women had the right to vote. This meant that if women were given the right to vote, they would have to get approval state by state. Alice Paul did not like this strategy. She did not like the state by state strategy and protested in front of the White House with a group of women as a result of their feelings. They continued to do these protests until they were imprisoned. Alice Paul even “began a hunger strike to protest the prison conditions.”[i]

When it came to Carrie Catt, she was the leader of the National American Woman Suffrage Association after the leaders passed away. She did not expect herself to actually be “the one” to win for women’s rights to vote.[ii] But, after leading the association to getting the ratification of all of the western states, she finally succeeded for getting the last state, Tennessee, to finally vote.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmk2uf0AmGqFW_Q3RP0CUx7ob682WyRU3qOljKhoZ-l5VzVKo_Z17dQ_jOq_80coBwUWWe9EzZxcgXh18jSFfcYLZOvx9tc5i1TJjv_j6OTluneuvALRC_-gpYogqzzFIKTulzIT07Vek/s1600/we+can+do+it.gif

As for the section regarding the protests which lead to prohibition, women did not like men to drink alcoholic beverages at saloons. Alcohol, to women, thought alcohol as the main reason of the physical, mental, and financial damage that it had on their families. Women then began to teach their daughters at a young age not to marry men who drank, and taught their sons not to drink at all.[iii] The women protested by smashing and destroying saloons which continued until 1919 which was when the amendment that outlawed alcoholic beverages finally came into play for all societal measures.

Finally, throughout the end of the reading, it talks about how Margaret Sangers tried to help women with sex education. This included birth control, abortion, and other topics related to sex education. She wanted to help “women who were ruining their health with too many pregnancies.”[iv] Her column in the newspaper on teaching sex education was banned in the local newspaper. Then, she tried to find ways on how to spread knowledge on sex education. She wanted to spread the word because she thought that women should be able to limit their families.

http://www.everywomansoutheast.org/sites/default/files/partner-focus_img.jpg

A woman’s experience throughout the years of 1880-1920 varied quite a bit from their race, class, age, and country of origin. Over the years, the experiences that woman have has varied quite a bit as well. One big difference in experiences depended on race. African Americans were treated much differently than people of the white race. For example, the African American race was able to vote before women were allowed to. Of the women, they were the smallest priority compared to everyone. The priority for getting women’s rights was more towards white women than the black women. For example, many black women eagerly helped overseas, but in return, the white race did not want them working in the canteen, because they did not want them to wear their uniforms.[v] It almost seemed like the African American race were not worthy enough.

What this means to me is that for too long women have been considered as too incompetent to take over tasks mostly occupied by men. I believe that everyone is created equal and that women’s rights shouldn’t have been as it should have been. Being equal shines a light on men and women together. The word “together” should have been an important word a long time ago when women were not treated equally, but that is all in the past now.

---

[i] Gail Collins, America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines. New York: Harper Perennial, 2009. http://www.ebooks.com/1571332/america-s-women/collins-gail/, 297.

[ii] Gail Collins, Ibid., 293.

[iii] Gail Collins, Ibid., 303.

[iv] Gail Collins, Ibid., 309.

[v] Gail Collins, Ibid., 288.

Introduction

Your name: Mitchell Bogushefsky
Where you are from, where do you live now?: I'm from Phoenix, Arizona and I still live here. I've lived here all my life.
What are your goals: My personal goals are to keep above a 3.4 GPA and to stay in shape throughout college
What's one place you've been that you think everyone should go: I really enjoyed Universal Studios. I think everyone should go there at least once. They've got really cool rides and always seem to something new each month.
Where's one place you want to go?: I've always wanted to travel to Europe, more specifically, Ireland. From what I heard and from pictures, Ireland is a very green and beautiful place.
Include an audio/video component with a fun fact about yourself