This study considers the nature of life and society in the Indian and Oklahoma Territories and the factors contributing to the narrow defeat of the women's suffrage proposal in the Constitutional Convention.

This thesis investigates the works of the London-based suffrage theatre group, the Actresses' Franchise League (AFL). Examining the period between 1907 and 1914, it considers the immediate influences on its foundation in 1908 up to the start of the First World War, when the League changed its focus from that of women's enfranchisement to the entertainment of troops. It analyses in particular the influence of the contemporary debate concerning the sense of humour, and women’s supposed lack thereof, on the focus and style of the playwrights' work. In contextualising the AFL's negotiations with ideas of women’s sense of humour, this thesis represents a shift from the prevailing critical caution shown towards the politicisation of literary humour and laughter. I challenge distinctions between offstage political activity and laughter in the theatre, as well as definitions of radical suffrage action and the privileging of the tragic or violent within feminist discourse. The League displayed a sensitive and, sometimes, angry understanding of the impact of anti-suffrage humour. In a politically motivated move, playwrights consciously rejected the narrative of the tragic and bitter woman both to emulate and defiantly invert such jokes, in order to assert the strength of women's humour. Not without debate within the League’s own circles, the AFL and the wider movement's various politics are manifested in this construction of women’s sense of humour. These theatrical negotiations impacted on the internal strength of the suffrage community and on its political reception. In uncovering suffrage humour as a critical area in its own right, this thesis reinvigorates the categories by which this theatre has been defined and challenges the demotion of its political contribution. Bringing together little known, unpublished, and formerly lost plays into dialogue with each other, it also contributes to the ongoing recuperation of suffrage theatre, such as Cecil Armstrong’s staging of jujitsu. Setting this in conversation with more established playwrights such as George Bernard Shaw and with suffrage playwrights who have already received considerable attention, such as Cicely Hamilton, this thesis actively resists the isolation of suffrage theatre within critical discourse. In addition, its reconsideration of Shaw's relationship with the suffrage movement challenges prevalent deprecation of his playwriting contribution that invites further re-evaluation of his literary politics, while the survey and application of humour theory contributes to the evolving and exciting area of literary humour studies. Overall, through the close documentation of the AFL's alliances with offstage debate, a fuller conception of this political theatre is detailed in ways that also capture the variety of its membership, as indeed of its humour too.

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The purpose of this thesis is to examine the origins of the first women's rights convention held at Seneca Falls, NY during the summer of 1848. Taxation without representation was one of the foundations that the Continental Congress used as a basis for Independence from England. But when the revolution ended and the Republic was formed, the United States adopted many English laws and traditions regarding the status of women. Women, who were citizens or could be naturalized, were left civically invisible by the code of laws (coverture) once they married. They were not able to own property, form contracts, sue or be sued. In essence, they were "covered" by their husbands under coverture. Single women who owned property or inherited property were subject to taxation, though they had no voice in the elective franchise. Therefore, women, both married and single, who were counted for legislative purposes, were given no voice in choosing their government representatives. I conclude that there were three bases for women's rights: equity, Republican Motherhood, and women's organizations. The legal concept of equity, the domestic ideology of Republican Motherhood combined with the social model of women's organizations formed the earliest foundation of what would become the first feminist movement, leading directly to the Declaration of Sentiments at Seneca Falls in 1848. Through an analysis of the changes in women's property ownership to the enhancement of the female domestic role in the early nineteenth century, women challenged their place in the public sphere. The sisterhood that was created as a result of the new domestic ideology and improved female education led to the creation of organizations to improve women's place in society. Through an almost fifty year evolution, the earliest women's volunteer organizations became the mid-nineteenth century reform organizations, leading to a campaign for woman's suffrage.

Due to the standards and values that characterized our society through history women have had a hidden place in the historiography. By a qualitative media analysis these values have been analysed to find out how   women with the right to vote moved the values and how they were described in newspapers and magazines.  The study is from Judith Butlers interpretation of how the gender perspective went through a process of normalization. The linguistic dimension of women has been analysed for two reasons firstly to discover how women are described as political subjects in 1911 and 1921 and how this can have affected perceptions of gender and value.  In my study I came to the conclusion that their political interests and achievements most often were overshadowed because of their gender 1911 more than 1921.  During 1921 it was still more important that women were women than men were men. Secondly I have studied how the women through magazines tried to tone down the fact that they were ground breakers. The study resulted in that the women often described their female characteristics in relation to their political relevance to give the reader the impression that femininity and politics belong together. These phenomena showed up more often in magazines than newspapers and were interpreted as these connections between femininity and politics were a part woman’s leverage to get the right to vote. The study contributes to the research of women’s history and a wider understanding for how language and journalism can contribute to perceptions of genus.

Thesis advisor: Peter Weiler / Between 1866 and 1918, suffragists in Britain campaigned to acquire the vote for women. Opposition to women's suffrage derived mainly from separate spheres ideology – the belief that the genders are inherently different and must fulfill different roles in society. Many scholars claim that the suffragists challenged separate spheres ideology. By comparing the writings of Millicent Fawcett and Frances Cobbe, two prominent suffragists, with the writings of Mary Ward and Violet Markham, two prominent anti-suffragists, this work demonstrates similar themes within the opposing campaigns. More importantly, the similarities indicate that suffragists argued within the context of separate spheres ideology and did not seek to significantly alter traditional gender roles. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2005. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

In this study the term "woman's movement" is defined as any advancement made by women, socially, economically, legally, or politically. In addition to information gathered from various collections, memoirs, diaries, and contemporary newspaper accounts of Louisiana women's activities, material from a number of pertinent secondary works is included. Chapter one gives a brief overview of the women's movement as it developed in America in the latter half of the 19th century. This is followed by a chapter on women in Louisiana before 1879- Evidence suggests that a number of Louisiana women shared a common bond with other southern women in longing for an emancipation from their limited role in society. The last six chapters are devoted to the woman's movement in the state, beginning in 1879 when women first dared to to speak out in public in behalf of women. After the Civil War, a large number of women were forced by post war conditions to depart from the traditional life-style of home and family and venture into public life. Liberated from their societal mold, women slowly expanded their sphere, going beyond the immediate need to provide a livelihood. Early women's organizations, temperance unions, church societies, and women's clubs, provided the necessary training ground as women moved into legal, civic and social reforms. Women entered literary and professionally fields and gradually became active in civic affairs. The movement reached a climax in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, granting women the right to vote, and marking the end of an era. While the liberation of women was not complete, from the achievements gained by women of this era emerged the modern woman of today.

This study presents a chronological examination of women's rights activism. The first three chapters cover the origin, growth, and success of the Texas woman suffrage movement. Chapter Four examines the issues of interest to Texas women after the right to vote was achieved, including birth control, better working conditions, unionization, jury duty, and married women's property rights. The last chapters explore the origins, growth, and success of the movement to secure an Equal Legal Rights Amendment to the state constitution, and its immediate aftermath. Sources include manuscript collections, interviews, newspaper and magazine accounts, and government documents.

In this thesis I explore the global circulation and cross-cultural encounters of women advocacy travelers in the early twentieth century. I focus on Carrie Chapman Catt, Margaret Hodge, Mildred McFaden, and Madeleine Z. Doty, who journeyed around the world in order to advocate for women’s rights and peace. Catt traveled on behalf of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) to South Africa, the Middle East, and Asia in 1911-12, Hodge promoted women’s suffrage around the British dominions, and McFaden and other members of the American Woman’s Republic brought a resolution linking peace and women’s suffrage to the IWSA congress in Budapest in 1913. Doty made several journeys from the U.S. to Germany and Russia, as a dissident antiwar journalist during the First World War. Using their travel writings, I explore these women travelers, their encounters with women from other countries and cultures, and their ideas about internationalism and inclusion in the worldwide movement for women’s rights.

While many politicians gain national or international acclaim, domestic political activists are rarely remembered for their dedication and, similarly, their sufferings. More specifically, the acts of female political activists, and the harsh punishments they endure following government pushback, are not appreciated or acknowledged by popular histories. Across Great Britain, the United States, and Argentina, three women played crucial roles in advancing reform against unjust government policies. Josephine Butler (1828-1906) was a pivotal character in repealing laws allowing for the government regulation of prostitution, the Contagious Diseases Acts, in Great Britain. Similarly, Alice Paul (1885-1997) was essential in achieving the ratification of the Nineteenth Constitutional Amendment in the United States—granting universal suffrage. Lastly, Azucena Villaflor (1924-1977) was one of the first people, man or woman, to openly oppose the Junta dictatorship in Argentina and openly advocate for the release of information on desaparecidos. Despite advancing such important policy reform, all three women increasingly faced physical suffering, torture or death at the hands of their respective state governments. Amid a lack of media coverage or biased, partial media coverage paired with the direct confrontation of male government leaders, noncombatant activists were unjustly treated in violation of their fundamental human rights. Progressive, forceful voices for positive change are consistently dismissed as crazy, extreme or irrational, rather than praised for their efforts. In exploring the cycle of violence surrounding the treatment of political activists, it appears nationalist histories are often void of past government faults.