An ever-present figure throughout much of the nineteenth century, the prostitute existed in a state divorced from "traditional" womanhood as a shadowy yet "necessary" evil, and was largely seen as a static element of the city. The archetypes of the "endangered maiden" and the "fallen woman" were discursive creations evolving from an inchoate form to a more sharply defined state that were designed to explain the prostitute's continued existence despite the moral objections voiced by religious and social reformers. These archetypes functioned in an agrarian/proto-industrial society; however, under pressures of urbanization, industrialization, and population mobility, these archetypes were gradually supplanted by sharper, more emotionally loaded archetypes such as the "White Slave" and the trope of the "Vice Syndicate" to explain the prostitute. In this manner Progressive-Era social and moral reformers could interpret prostitution in general and the prostitute in particular within the framework of their understanding of a contentious social environment. In moving away from a religious framework towards a more scientific interpretation, the concept of prostitution evolved from a moral failing to a status analogous to a disease that infected the social body of the state. However, because the White Slave and the Vice Syndicate were discursive creations based upon anecdotal interpretations of prostitution as a predatory economic system, their nebulous nature encouraged a crisis mentality that could not survive a concrete examination of their "problem." Realities of race, class, and gender, as well as the fluid nature of the urban environment as well as non-moral concerns rendered the new archetypes and tropes slippery, and applicable to any reform-oriented argument. By the later years of the Progressive Era anti-vice discourse ceased to advocate moral arguments calling for the rescue of the prostitute and instead became a vehicle to articulate non-moral concerns such as political reform, social order, and female economic suffrage. After the First World War, the archetype of the White Slave collapsed in the face of women's suffrage and sexual agency, and the prostitute once more reverted to a state analogous to pre-Progressive cultural interpretations of prostitution. / History

Change all but defines the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in American history. In the midst of these tumultuous times, America experienced a revolution of reform meant to develop and enhance all areas of life from politics to society, which led historians to call this time period the Progressive Era. However, the progress of the nation was not always the winning ideology. At times, the backlash against progressive ideas restrained innovators and caused them to disappear into the mires of history. One reformer who experienced this backlash was Fred Morrow Fling. Although he was an internationally-known historian, he remained a rather invisible history education reformer because his ideas were overshadowed by the enormous human events of his lifetime, including the work of other reformers and his unexpected death in 1934. As a trained scientific historian, Fling was a pioneer of historical method and the application of what became known as “source method” in the classroom and he espoused a radical approach to critical education that sought to embed a scientific approach into the teaching of history that has clear parallels with best teaching practices today. Thus, using traditional historical research methods and archival records from both Bowdoin College and the University of Nebraska, the author presents in this dissertation a biographical portrait of Fling’s life. Through the analysis of these historical documents and the evidence of his life recorded in publications and the public press, this portrait will serve to uncover both how Fred Morrow Fling’s conception of history education influenced his practice as a history professor and researcher and how Fred Morrow Fling’s philosophy of education formed and developed over his lifetime. Specifically, this author will consider: how can the philosophy of history education created by Fred Morrow Fling inform our current history education practices today? By investigating Fling’s life, researchers will finally be able to acknowledge Fling’s myriad contributions to history education, which are vital to composing a fuller picture of the history of social studies education.

This dissertation explores embodiments of citizenship in three historical pageants of 1913. As historical pageantry reached the height of its popularity in the early twentieth century, the form was criticized by those who felt it represented a limited understanding of community and citizenship. Historical pageants came to prominence at a time in the nation’s history when lynching plagued the south, women agitated for the right to vote, and labor unions organized to demand better working conditions. Popular historical pageants presented a history which ignored these pressing social issues and supported the status quo. As a result, while pageants gained popularity the form was taken up by groups seeking to use pageants for different political purposes. My dissertation interrogates embodiments of citizenship in Progressive Era pageantry through three case studies: W.E.B. Du Bois wrote and staged Star of Ethiopia, devoted to re-telling African-American history; John Reed organized members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) for a performance of The Paterson Strike Pageant to aid laborers on strike; and Hazel MacKaye staged Allegory in support of women’s suffrage. While each pageant aimed to promote diversity, once each pageant’s historiography landed on live bodies, the gaps between what the pageant argued for and who the pageant simultaneously excluded were made visible. Allegory crafted an argument for white women’s suffrage by excluding recent immigrant and women of color; Du Bois sought to promote the African American middle class by denigrating the working classes; John Reed painted an image of the IWW as a fully united working class while ignoring the racial and ethnic differences that had led to tensions among the group. Despite their progressive intentions, once each pageant moved its political arguments on stage, the choices they made in performance belied their inclusive aspirations. / text

This study concentrates on the social status of women in one southern town during the late nineteenth century and the Progressive Era.

Jessie Ackermann traveled throughout the world representing numerous American reformist organizations during the Progressive Era. Over the course of her lifetime, she promoted progressive reforms in foreign lands. This study examines Ackermann's career a progressive in an international context. The Jessie Ackermann Collection in the Archives of Appalachia holds various records that document Ackermann's career. Ackermann also authored three books during her lifetime. This thesis employs these primary materials along with other appropriate primary and secondary sources dealing with Ackermann and the Progressive Era. Several historical studies have surveyed Ackermann's work as a reformer; however, none have sought exclusively to place her within the context of the Progressive Movement. Ackermann's experiences reveal that progressives not only sought to change society in America, but that some carried progressivism abroad to transform foreign societies. This study contributes to the understanding of Ackermann's work as a reformer and the international nature of progressivism.

Beginning with the first European colonists in the New World, captivity has been means of cultural exchange between whites and Native Americans. The narratives recounting the captives’ experiences became popular literature which inspired visual artists who reinterpreted the tales to coincide with their cultural needs. In the early twentieth century, progressive reformer, William Pryor Letchworth, hired artist Henry Kirke Bush-Brown to create a sculpture of captive Mary Jemison who, instead of returning to her natal culture, chose to stay among the Seneca becoming fully assimilated. Aligning with their progressive values, their perception of her character is reflected in the Mary Jemison Monument. The monument creates an image of the ideal woman, immigrant, and Native American who holds and practices white middle-class values of strength, independence, and determination. Exemplifying these American values, the sculpture accesses an American identity emphasizing the acceptance and practice of these supposedly American traits. Immigrants and Native Americans could become fully Americanized by adopting these characteristics and leaving their traditional ways behind. Contingent on their assimilation of white middle-class values, the perceived problems facing a diversified society could be eliminated. In so doing, a more harmonious America aligning with Letchworth’s beliefs could be created.

By considering San Francisco’s legal, social, and cultural history during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in relation to American law, missionary women, and Chinese American prostitutes, this thesis argues that by aggressively trying to control Chinese sexuality through laws, “yellow slave” narratives, Christianizing, and the immigration process, the American government and missionaries created an atmosphere ripe for Chinese prostitutes in America with varying degrees of sexual freedoms.

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2009. / Title from screen (viewed on November 13, 2009). Department of History, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Melissa Bingmann, Robert G. Barrows, Jeffrey S. Wilson. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-100).

John Fox, Jr. provides commentary on the changing roles of Progressive Era women in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, “A Cumberland Vendetta,” and “The Pardon of Becky Day.” Fox’s portrayals provide evidence that although he recognized the changes in his society with women spearheading reform, he did not entirely approve of these changes or of women taking an aggressive role in advocating change. This thesis provides textual examples and analysis demonstrating Fox’s beliefs. Chapter two focuses on the stories of “The Pardon of Becky Day” and “A Cumberland Vendetta.” Chapter three analyzes The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come and focuses on the relationships of Chad Buford, Margaret Dean, and a mountain girl named Melissa. Chapter four analyzes the relationship between June Tolliver and Jack Hale from The Trail of the Lonesome Pine. Chapter five concludes the thesis and analysis of Fox’s commentary on women and gender roles.

This thesis examines the work of reformer Lugenia Burns Hope and her community organization, the Neighborhood Union, as a case study to unpack scholarly characterizations of black elite uplift strategies during the early 20th century. The Neighborhood Union was established in 1908 in Atlanta by Hope and women from the community to build stronger neighborhoods and to combat the deleterious effects of the 1906 Race Riots and Jim Crow laws. Neighborhood Union settlement houses provided basic and extracurricular services, including kindergartens for working mothers, vocational classes, and lecture series. The organization’s exceptional, multi-class leadership structure enabled members of the black poor and working classes to lead their own projects with the assistance of Neighborhood Union resources. Hope’s background provides evidence against broad generalizations of the black elite as paternalistic, and her vision of creating democratic communities that diminished class barriers provides a counter narrative to characterizations of clubwomen and the black elite as engaging in respectability politics in their social work. Understood within its historical and sociopolitical context, Hope’s life and work also challenge mainstream narratives of the Progressive Era and the Social Gospel movement.