Description
Book SynopsisExplores women's conceptions of citizenship as articulated in their speeches at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Illustrates how, in addition to working for their own enfranchisement, women also modeled practices of democratic citizenship beyond the ballot.
Trade Review“An outstanding book. Through her thoroughly researched, engagingly written, and accessible scholarship, Kristy Maddux shows how the women who participated in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago projected onto the world stage the tensions and aspirations of their historical moment. She draws our attention to rhetorical events of undeniable importance that continue to resonate for us, here, today.”
—Robert Terrill,author Double-Consciousness and the Rhetoric of Barack Obama
“In this remarkable study of women's contributions to the World's Columbian Exposition, Kristy Maddux complicates and nuances scholarship on citizenship. Maddux invites readers to consider historical practices in new ways, offering a fuller understanding of their past significance and future potential. Deftly weaving together historical detail and analytic insight, Maddux illuminates the ‘multivocality’ of citizenship.”
—Robert Asen,author of Democracy, Deliberation, and Education
“This book expands our understanding of the multiple ways in which citizenship was expressed and enacted at a defining moment in U.S. history. Illuminating the intersections between gender, race, nationality, and economic power, Maddux offers a remarkable synthesis of dozens of speeches to show how women in the late nineteenth century practiced citizenship without having access to the ballot box.”
—Sarah Wadsworth,author of In the Company of Books
“Maddux achieves her goal of recovering new forms of women’s citizenship at the fair, which should encourage future scholarship and therefore an even greater understanding of women’s contributions to this rich rhetorical event.”
—Anna Dudney Deeb Rhetorica
