Seeing with Their Hearts: Chicago Women and the Vision of the Good City, 1871-1933

by Maureen A. Flanagan

Overview

At the turn of the last century, as industrialists and workers made Chicago the hardworking City of Big Shoulders celebrated by Carl Sandburg, Chicago women articulated an alternative City of Homes in which the welfare of residents would be the municipal government's principal purpose. Seeing With Their Hearts traces the formation of this vision from the relief efforts following the Chicago fire of 1871 through the many political battles of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. In the process, it presses a new understanding of the roles of women in public life and writes a new history of urban America.


Heeding the call of activist Louise de Koven Bowen to become third-class passengers on the train of life, thousands of women "put their shoulders to the wheel and their whole hearts into the work" of fighting for better education, worker protections, clean air and water, building safety, health care, and women's suffrage. Though several well-known activists appeared frequently in these initiatives, Maureen Flanagan offers compelling evidence that women established a broad and durable solidarity that spanned differences of race, class, and political experience. She also shows that these women--emphasizing their common identity as women seeking a city amenable to the needs of women, children, families, and homes--pursued a vision and goals distinct from the reform agenda of Progressive male activists. They fought hard and sometimes successfully in a variety of public places and sites of power, winning victories from increased political clout and prenatal care to municipal garbage collection and pasteurized milk.


While telling the fascinating and in some cases previously untold stories of women activists during Chicago's formative period, this book fundamentally recasts urban social and political history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691215969
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	07/21/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Maureen A. Flanagan is Associate Professor of History at Michigan State University. She is the author of Charter Reform in Chicago and the editor of the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

Table of Contents

List of Figures ix
List of Acronyms xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction
City of Big Shoulders or City of Homes?
Re-envisioning Urban History 1
PART ONE: CRAFTING THE VISION
Chapter One
"The Whole Work has been Committed to the Hands of Women"
Women Respond to the Fire of 1871 13
Chapter Two
"Thoughtful Women Are Needed"
Forming Groups and Forging Alliances 31
PART TWO: EXPANDING THE VISION
Chapter Three
"The First Thing Is to Create Public Sentiment and Then Express It at Every Opportunity"
The Growth of Progressive Activism 55
Chapter Four
"The Welfare of the Community Requires the Admission of Women to Full Citizenship"
The Campaign for Municipal Suffrage, 1896-1912 73
Chapter Five
"To Bring Together Women Interested in Promoting the Welfare of the City"
The Expansion of Women's Municipal Work, 1910-16 85
PART THREE: CAMPAIGNING FOR THE VISION
Chapter Six
"I Do Not Think the Husband Will Influence the Wife's Vote in Municipal Affairs"
Women as Voters and Potential Officeholders, 1913-19 123
Chapter Seven
"Looking Out for the Interests of the People"
Municipal Activism through the 1920s 145
Chapter Eight
"I Am the Only Woman on Their Entire Ticket"
The End of an Era 175
Conclusion
Chicago Remains the City of Big Shoulders 193
Appendixes 203
Notes 219
Bibliography 287
Index 305

What People are Saying About This

Ann Keating

Seeing with Their Hearts is significant as both a case study and a synthesis of current work on women's roles in Progressive politics. It forces a retelling of the standard political history of cities during the Progressive Era, showing that women activists pursued an independent agenda that must be taken into account if the era is to be understood.
— Ann Keating, author of "Building Chicago"

Harold Platt

This book is a major achievement that brilliantly weaves history and historiography into a seamless narrative of Chicago women's political activism from the Great Fire of 1871 to the New Deal. Reevaluating the ways in which we understand the roles of women in public life, it poses a provocative challenge to the field of American social history. It may become one of those pivotal books that change how we look at the history of cities, politics, race, and class.
— Harold Platt, author of "The Electric City"

From the Publisher

"This book is a major achievement that brilliantly weaves history and historiography into a seamless narrative of Chicago women's political activism from the Great Fire of 1871 to the New Deal. Reevaluating the ways in which we understand the roles of women in public life, it poses a provocative challenge to the field of American social history. It may become one of those pivotal books that change how we look at the history of cities, politics, race, and class."—Harold Platt, author of The Electric City

"Seeing with Their Hearts is significant as both a case study and a synthesis of current work on women's roles in Progressive politics. It forces a retelling of the standard political history of cities during the Progressive Era, showing that women activists pursued an independent agenda that must be taken into account if the era is to be understood."—Ann Keating, author of Building Chicago

Recipe

"This book is a major achievement that brilliantly weaves history and historiography into a seamless narrative of Chicago women's political activism from the Great Fire of 1871 to the New Deal. Reevaluating the ways in which we understand the roles of women in public life, it poses a provocative challenge to the field of American social history. It may become one of those pivotal books that change how we look at the history of cities, politics, race, and class."—Harold Platt, author of The Electric City

"Seeing with Their Hearts is significant as both a case study and a synthesis of current work on women's roles in Progressive politics. It forces a retelling of the standard political history of cities during the Progressive Era, showing that women activists pursued an independent agenda that must be taken into account if the era is to be understood."—Ann Keating, author of Building Chicago

Editorial Reviews

"An important book on activist women's perspectives on the modern city. . . . Flanagan's study will become a new model for studying urban and women's history."

Choice

Winner of the 2003 Superior Achievement Award, Illinois State Historical Society

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2003

From the Publisher

[A] solid, deeply researched, and rewarded book.

American Historical Review - Pamela Tyler

In this well-researched book with a cast of thousands, Maureen A. Flanagan accomplishes several important historiographical tasks relevant not just to Chicago history but to a larger understanding of the wellsprings of Progressive reform campaigns.

Journal of American History - Mina Carson

Grounded in exhaustive research. . . . Flanagan's book contributes to historiographical debates over urban development, municipal politics, and women's contribution to both. Women may have failed in their attempts to transform Chicago 'from the City of Big Shoulders into a City of Homes.' Flanagan, however, succeeds in telling us why.

Reviews in American History - Thomas Winter

This is a well-written and illuminating study of women reformers in Chicago. . . . Flanagan clearly has done extensive work with often under-utilized sources, bringing to light the world of activist women in the early twentieth-century city.

H-Net Reviews - Elizabeth Jozwiak

[A] solid, deeply researched, and rewarded book.
— Pamela Tyler

American Historical Review

In this well-researched book with a cast of thousands, Maureen A. Flanagan accomplishes several important historiographical tasks relevant not just to Chicago history but to a larger understanding of the wellsprings of Progressive reform campaigns.
— Mina Carson

Journal of American History

Grounded in exhaustive research. . . . Flanagan's book contributes to historiographical debates over urban development, municipal politics, and women's contribution to both. Women may have failed in their attempts to transform Chicago 'from the City of Big Shoulders into a City of Homes.' Flanagan, however, succeeds in telling us why.
— Thomas Winter

Reviews in American History

This is a well-written and illuminating study of women reformers in Chicago. . . . Flanagan clearly has done extensive work with often under-utilized sources, bringing to light the world of activist women in the early twentieth-century city.
— Elizabeth Jozwiak

H-Net Reviews