Margurite Berard

Focus

I plan to write about the depiction of women in newspapers in the Carlisle area in relation to the events and happenings of the year 1876. This topic is very narrow, but I hope to narrow it down to one newspaper, either being the American Volunteer or The Sentinel. I hope to call this paper, “The Depiction of Women in the Newspapers of Carlisle in 1876,” however, if I can find a more creative topic I will go with that.

With this in mind, I plan to first give the reader context by providing the happenings of the time. Then I plan to use newspaper articles from Carlisle newspapers to demonstrate how the events that occurred did not make much of an impact of small towns in the ‘frontier’ of the time, for they still depicted women as helpless creatures. Through books and other resources I hope to give specific examples of women that made an impact during that year and use newspapers to support my claims.

Significance

I am writing this paper because I feel it is imperative to learn the progress of women throughout history not only throughout the nation but more specifically a small town like Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is interesting and important in our understanding the standing of women to examine the year of our centennial, 1876. Through studying newspaper article one is able to grasp the tone set by the authors as well as the information that is being fed to the citizens of Carlisle that will influence their view of women. Articles such as “A True Boy Story” from May 4th and “A Woman of ‘76” From March 2nd from American Volunteer depict woman very differently than a newspaper from an urban area of the same time period, and also give the reader a snapshot of the views of the time period.

Context

On July 4, 1876, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and other early women suffragists wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Women of the Unites States. In writing this constitution outlining women’s rights that that demanded these activists made important history. Since then women have an enormous amount of headway regarding women’s rights. If not for these wonderful and courageous women, the women’s movement would not have progressed to where it is today.

In relation to that, it is important to understand the status of women at the time the Declaration was written. Women had little to no rights in marriage, for they were the property of their husbands, and had no right to make their own money, own property, or even vote. The 1870s was a very important time period for women and the attitudes towards women were changing at a steady pace, since the plateau of the Civil War.

Newspaper articles, mostly in rural areas, depicted women very differently than was the changing attitude. According to many articles written in local newspapers in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, newspapers depicted women as helpless creatures who cared only of vanity. This attitude is a demonstration of the lag in attitudes from urban areas to rural areas.

Methodology

Thus far I have researched women in the year 1876 by using many various resources. First, I went to the Cumberland County Historical Society and found many newspaper articles that have been helpful. I will have to go back sometime this week to narrow my topic down, since I changed my topic.

At the library on campus, I have researched the American Volunteer on microfilm. I found many helpful articles that depicted women in a way that was different than the urban areas of the nation. This could have been attributed to the fact that Carlisle was very rural and therefore a lot of information did not pass through, and opinions of women changed at a much slower rate. Some articles I found were “A True Boy Story” from May 4, and “A Woman of ‘76” from March 2.

In addition I also searched through the library catalogue. I was able to find a plethora of books that gave a lot of context. Through this search I was able to find a book called Our Hidden Heritage: Pennsylvania Women in History. This book is very helpful in not only naming specific women, but also information specific to the year 1876 and events that happened in Pennsylvania. In other books I was able to find pictures from the year 1876 as well as random facts on the progress of women in the 1870s.

I still have a lot more research to do. I plan on going to the Archives and Special Collections at school and revisiting the Cumberland County Historical Society. In addition, I plan on using internet databases to see if I am able to find anything specific, as well as looking through more microfilm to find more articles.

After my research, I plan to make an outline of what I am going to write in the paper. After my outline I will write a couple of drafts and have the drafts revised and then finally produce my final draft.

Time Line

At this point I plan to work diligently and get this project done either by the time it is due or before that.

Bibliography

“A True Boy Story,” American Volunteer (Carlisle, PA), May 4, 1876.

“A Woman of ’76,” American Volunteer (Carlisle, PA), March 2, 1876.

“American Women Have the Smallest Feet,” American Volunteer (Carlisle, PA), April 27, 1876.

“Fashion Notes,” American Volunteer (Carlisle, PA), May 11, 1876.

“Humorous,” American Volunteer (Carlisle, PA), February 17, 1876.

Hymowitz, Carol and Michaele Weissman. A History of Women in America .New York: Bantam Books, 1978.

Katz, Jonathan N. “The Invention of Heterosexuality.” In Race, Class and Gender in the United States, edited by Paula S. Rothernberg, 69-80. 6th ed. Worth Publishers.

“Marriage Ceremonies,” American Volunteer (Carlisle, PA), February 17, 1876.

McElroy, Janice H. Our Hidden Heritage: Pennsylvania Women in History. Washington, D.C.: the Pennsylvania Division of the American Association of University Women, 1983.

“Mrs. Jones Elopement,” American Volunteer (Carlisle, PA), March 23, 1876.

Randall, Vicky. Women and Politics. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1982.

Sanders, Beverly. Women in American History: A Series, Book Three. Massachusetts: Education Development Center, 1979.

Sigerman, Harriet. Laborers for Liberty: American Women 1865-1890. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.

The Reader’s Companion to U.S. Women’s History, edited by Wilma Mankiller, Gwendolyn Mink, Marysa Navarro, et. Al. new York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

“The Story of a Russian Princess,” American Volunteer (Carlisle, PA), April 12, 1876.

“Woes of a Husband,” American Volunteer (Carlisle, PA), February 3, 1876.