Description
Book SynopsisFocusing on the reform activities of women during the Progressive Era, this is the first book to consider all the organisations of middle-class black and white women in the South and particularly in Alabama. It is also the first to explore the drive of Alabama women to obtain the vote.
Trade ReviewThe history of Alabama women has not been illuminated by the recent wave of women's studies scholarship. Now, however, Mary Martha Thomas begins to fill this gap. Challenging the stereotype of the 'Southern Lady,' Thomas portrays black and white women activists who unapologetically played a public role in Alabama Progressivism between 1890 and 1920." -
American Historical Review "This book, Mary Martha Thomas's
The New Woman in Alabama, marks an interesting and important juncture in the field of US women's history - a juncture characterized by a (finally!) irrepressible, although still not fully articulated, awareness on the part of white feminists that the existing historiography on women's reform movements inadequately addresses issues of race." -
Florida Historical Quarterly"Mary Martha Thomas's new book, like her earlier work on Alabama women during World War II, provides a structural model for writing about an important phase in the history of southern women. Moreover, this new book provides rich details about aspects of southern progressivism and the Alabama women who added to its vitality." -
Martha H. Swain, Texas Woman's University"[Thomas's] book adds significantly to our knowledge and understanding of experiences of southern women in the Progressive Era by providing a detailed account of the activities of some of the women of one state." -
Journal of American History "Focusing first on the social reform activities of the 1880s and 1890s and then on the drive to achieve woman suffrage, Mary Martha Thomas has provided a much-needed study which proves once and for all that southern women, like their northeastern counterparts, played a significant role in both the Progressive reform and woman suffrage movements." -
Register of the Kentucky Historical Society"A significant contribution to Alabama/woman historiography. There is nothing with which to compare it." -
Kenneth R. Johnson, University of North Alabama
