Issue: October 2008
Hearth and Home

		Everyday Revolutionaries As women have fought for equality with men, many extraordinary women have stood out in their own communities as rebels and revolutionaries. In profound ways, these women helped erode the traditional notions of what it meant to be a woman. In 1807, The Hartford Courant included an obituary for Elizabeth Clayton from England, who resisted the social norms of the times. Her obituary reads, "This woman, from an early propensity to masculine employments, had worked as a ship carpenter at a dockyard upwards of 40 years, and was always in man's apparel; she used to drink, chew tobacco, and keep company only with the workmen, yet would never enter into the matrimonial state. She was a strong robust woman and never permitted any one to insult her with impunity." Clayton's disregard for the traditional path toward marriage and motherhood brought her enough notoriety that her obituary appeared in a newspaper across the Atlantic. While Elizabeth Clayton challenged domesticity by working in an English dockyard in the early 19th century, women became pioneers in professional vocations dominated by men in a fight that continues into the 21st century. In 1927, the Chicago Defender featured a story about Mrs. Edith S. Sampson, who became the first African-American woman to graduate from the John Marshall School of Law, Loyola University, Chicago, and continued on be the first woman to complete a master's degree in law at Loyola University. Elizabeth Clayton and Edith Sampson successfully challenged the traditional female roles of their time and knowingly, or not, became rebels with a cause.
		Intelligent Companions Today women face the pressure to live up to a variety of idealized images, from the mom who can do it all—work, take the kids to soccer practice, and keep a sparkling clean house—to the tall and thin 20-something that wears miniskirts and Manolos. Women have been under pressure to live up to idealized images over the course of Western history. Newspapers, the dominant form of media before television and the Internet, expressed these images. In the early 19th century as women began to gain a voice in the antislavery movement and the early feminist movement began to take shape, literature that reiterated women's traditional role in the home proliferated. The Connecticut Courant included a piece on the women of the emerging middle class, remarking, "And what is it that has made a great many of them so estimable, and of price above rubies? It is their sober virtuous habits—their modesty—their piety—their industry—their prudent economy—their faithful discharge of domestic duties—their assiduous and wisely-directed efforts, 'to make a well-ordered home man's best delight.'" As social and economic change took place in the U.S. during the first half of the century, women benefited from increased access to education, work, and opportunities for social participation, although this did not break down the enduring notion that women belonged in the home. While advocating on behalf of women's education, it is noted in a newspaper's reprint of an article from the American Journal of Education that "...act of memory...should be early cultivated in females, because one important point of their ultimate destination is to be intelligent companions." As the earliest mass media, historical newspaper articles about the place of women in the home are not unlike the portrayal of women on television. Studying representations of women in early media provides insight into popular thinking and facilitates discourse on the place of women in society.

		The Mating Game Need a frugal wife or a rich husband? Worried that your man is straying—or worse, can't locate him at all? Let the newspaper help!
		Who Wears the Pants? Comic strips often document social change while making readers chuckle. The introduction of pants to women's wardrobes in the 1900s provides the perfect example.
		How About a Nice Tomato Jelly Salad? Like many of today's publications, historical newspapers often contained recipes and tips for the homemaker. Granted, tastes have changed somewhat.
		A Man's Work Is Never Done? Just by reading the newspaper, every man knows how to keep his home a happy one—starting with buying the little lady that handsome electric roaster she's had her eye on!
		Sound Off to Win! Thanks for reading the inaugural edition of Retroview. We'd love to hear what you think of it. The first ten people to send their feedback—positive or otherwise—to RetroviewEditor@ proquest.com will receive a copy of Summer at Tiffany, along with our thanks. Winners will be notified by email no later than October 22, 2008, and shipping details will be confirmed at that time.
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