In this third week of Women's History Month, we are looking at social history books that will help you better understand her life.
Title: Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present
Author: Mimi Abramovitz
Publisher: South End Press
Synopsis: Both books pictured above deal with women, single mothers, and "welfare." Although they deal with more modern issues associated with welfare, they start with the history of aid to impoverished women. Regulating the Lives of Women includes the following chapters:
2. The Colonial Family Ethic: The Development of Families, the Ideology of Women’s Roles, and the Labor of Women 3. Women and the Poor Laws in Colonial America 4. "A Woman’s Place is in the Home": The Rise of the Industrial Family Ethic 5. Women and the Nineteenth Century Relief 6. Poor Women and Progressivism: Protective Labor Law and Mothers’ Pensions 7. The Great Depression and the Social Security Act: The Emergence of the Modern Welfare State 8. Old Age Insurance
Linda Gordon's book (pictured above), covers 1890-1935 and deals with topics like Mother's Pensions. Many of Gordon's books are excellent for understanding social history.
Why You Need This Book: Yesterday, I focused on a book about women's work but we also need to acknowledge that historically women have had a close relationship with poverty. Widowhood, a drunken husband that doesn't work, a disabled husband, her disability, no family, lack of childcare, mental health issues, etc...meant that women experienced poverty, and often that meant the local government dealt with her by institutionalizing her, paying her, putting her to work, or taking away children. Knowing this history can help us better understand our female ancestors' lives and what records may exist.
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