Women of the Commonwealth
Work, Family, and Social Change in Ninteenth-Century Massachusetts
Edited by Susan L. Porter
University of Massachusetts Press
These essays reflect the complexity and richness of current scholarship in women's history. Informed by a variety of source materials and methodologies, the ten chapters break down a generalized construct of "womanhood" to explore the dynamics between gender, race, ethnicity, and class.
The first section of the book focuses on women's work, paid and unpaid, and the effects of class, ethnicity, and gender on the structure of the job market and on power relations within the family. The second section revisits the concept of "sisterhood" by looking at women in relation to their families, social and cultural networks, and civic and private institutions. The editor's introduction sets the essays in the current historiographical context of women's studies and provides a bibliographical essay for the nonspecialist reader.
The first section of the book focuses on women's work, paid and unpaid, and the effects of class, ethnicity, and gender on the structure of the job market and on power relations within the family. The second section revisits the concept of "sisterhood" by looking at women in relation to their families, social and cultural networks, and civic and private institutions. The editor's introduction sets the essays in the current historiographical context of women's studies and provides a bibliographical essay for the nonspecialist reader.
This is a solid collection that should speak to a broad audience and be of interest to scholars across a wide spectrum. These essays on developments in Massachusetts have a relevance to the debates in national women's history literature.'—Thomas Dublin, Binghamton University, author of Transforming Women's Work: New England Lives in the Industrial Revolution
'These scholars have all done an excellent job of uncovering new sources in Massachusetts history. Many of the authors break new ground methodologically. There is no question that the book will appeal to scholars in New England history and women's history, and will be adopted for classroom use.'—Janet Golden, Rutgers University, Camden, author of A Social History of Wet Nursing in America: From Breast to Bottle
Susan L. Porter is assistant professor of history and director of the Graduate Program in History/Archives Management at Simmons College.
