Gender and Higher Education in the Progressive Era

In the period from 1890 to 1920, known as the Progressive Era, the second generation of American women to attend college broke out of traditional isolation to take part in the political and intellectual ferment of the time. In their efforts to gain parity with male counterparts, these women were in the vanguard of egalitarianism, moving toward the goal of integrating marriage and career. This study, drawing on the writings of female students at the universities of Chicago and Calfornia, and at the women's colleges of Sophie Newcomb and Agnes Scott in the South, portrays a vibrant campus life. While not diminishing the impact of sexism in these young lives, the author, professor of education at the University of Rochester, corrects historical misconceptions of the students as frivolous and socially preoccupied. This accessible study rightfully claims a place in the expanding library of women's history. (Aug.)