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We can't be the women we were before: Mary Livermore and Chicago women in the American Civil War

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Date Issued:
1996
Abstract/Description:
University of Central Florida College of Arts and Sciences Thesis; This study examines the impact of the American Civil War on Union women by focusing on Mary Ashton Rice Livermore and her associates in wartime aid societies in Chicago, Illinois. It argues that Livermore's postwar lecture career epitomizes the new confidence that many benevolent women possessed after the Civil War. From contemporary newspaper accounts and letters it demonstrates that the conflagration broadened the scope of their activity, allowing many to hone their skills and expand their influence while remaining safely inside society's accepted gender standards. concluding that the war changed moderate white middle-class women's lives, it then illustrates that some modifications proved permanent for many throughout the ensuing decade. This work draws from published sources, including Livermore's autobiography and her account of th war, and manuscript collections containing correspondence, dated between 1850 and 1905, among advocates of women's rights and their acquaintances.
Title: We can't be the women we were before: Mary Livermore and Chicago women in the American Civil War.
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Name(s): Engle, Nancy Arlene Driscol, Author
Crepeau, Richard C., Committee Chair
Arts and Sciences, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 1996
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: University of Central Florida College of Arts and Sciences Thesis; This study examines the impact of the American Civil War on Union women by focusing on Mary Ashton Rice Livermore and her associates in wartime aid societies in Chicago, Illinois. It argues that Livermore's postwar lecture career epitomizes the new confidence that many benevolent women possessed after the Civil War. From contemporary newspaper accounts and letters it demonstrates that the conflagration broadened the scope of their activity, allowing many to hone their skills and expand their influence while remaining safely inside society's accepted gender standards. concluding that the war changed moderate white middle-class women's lives, it then illustrates that some modifications proved permanent for many throughout the ensuing decade. This work draws from published sources, including Livermore's autobiography and her account of th war, and manuscript collections containing correspondence, dated between 1850 and 1905, among advocates of women's rights and their acquaintances.
Identifier: CFR0010869 (IID), ucf:53057 (fedora)
Note(s): 1996-05-01
M.A.
History
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Electronically reproduced by the University of Central Florida from a book held in the John C. Hitt Library at the University of Central Florida, Orlando.
Subject(s): Arts and Sciences -- Dissertations
Academic
Dissertations
Academic -- Arts and Sciences
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFR0010869
Restrictions on Access: public
Host Institution: UCF

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