1889 – 1920 Modernizing America Activism and the Progressive Era

1. The challenges brought on by the Industrial Revolution led to a new wave of social reform efforts historians now call the Progressive Era.

2. Women of diverse race, class, age, and social status engaged with and led social reform movements during the Progressive Era.

3. Activism provided many women with an opportunity to step out of traditional roles and influence public life.

Unknown photographer, Portrait of women shirtwaist strikers holding copies of “The Call.” A placard with Yiddish writing hands in the background, 1910, 1910. The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University.

Activism and the Progressive Era

Nearly one hundred years of unfettered industrial growth had taken a toll on society. At the turn of the 20th century, almost every aspect of modern life seemed to need improvement. Tenements and workplaces were unsafe. Urban nightlife threatened public morality. Lack of medical knowledge and sanitary resources led to public health crises. These and other public health and safety concerns birthed a period of intense activism and social reform that historians now call the Progressive Era.

For many women, the political and social activism of the period offered an opportunity to break from traditional roles and make contributions to public life. Social reformers included national figures traveling the world to speak to mass audiences, artists documenting the horrors of urban life, and laborers risking their lives and livelihoods on the picket line. Women shared insight about social norms and behaviors, fought for social justice issues, and participated in national reform movements like temperance.

Social reformers came from almost every walk of life and included women from different racial, economic, and geographic backgrounds. Young women fought for fair labor practices in the garment industry of New York and the laundries of Texas and Oregon. Social workers and nurses opened settlement houses and clinics to serve poor immigrant communities. Extremists advocated for the total abandonment of social and political constructs that prevented women from achieving equality. Women were more often than not the driving force behind the turn-of-the-century spirit of reform.

1. What specific social and political challenges did social reformers respond to in this era? How did these challenges affect women?

2. How did women become involved in social reform? What did they do? How did they justify their work to those who thought women belonged in the home?

3. What role did race and class play in shaping a woman’s social reform interests?