Breaking Barriers: Edith Abbott and the Influence of her Work at the University of Nebraska Lincoln in the Twentieth Century

Cover detail, "Woman Suffrage Militant..." Cover detail, "Economics Foundation..."

Abbott’s copy of the Fabian Women’s Society pamphlet. [13]

Kayleigh McDonald, History 250: The Historian Craft, Spring 2019

Edith Abbott has led a peculiar life going against the grain of what society expected of her. Born in 1876, to a well-off family who had recently moved to the Nebraskan frontier where Abbott was born in Grand Island to Elizabeth Griffin and Othman Abbott. Griffin, herself, was known to push boundaries as she was a well-known feminist, abolitionist, and Quaker who pushed heavily for women's right to higher education.[1] Her mother would be the first of many driving forces behind Edith to not only pursue her independence, but also an education. Abbott’s family would enlist her into an elite private school, Brownell Hall, in Omaha. Abbott excelled as she graduated in 1893 not only with honors, but as valedictorian and winner of a gold medal achievement. She would further her education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and eventually get her PhD at the University of Chicago. Later, in 1924, she became the dean of the University of Chicago, making her the first woman dean in the United States. While her work was heavily influential at the University of Chicago, it also impacted her alma mater Nebraska. Her work gave the university one of the first looks into women and their place in the workplace in the early twentieth century. 

Abbott’s own work was heavily diverse in her dream of creating a better society. Her areas of expertise ranged from immigration, child labor, and prison reform. She worked for fair immigration law, women’s rights, social services for children, and prisoner rights. She was an elite member of the International Prison Congress, later she would become an advisor to the international Labor Office of the League of Nations.  Abbott was highly qualified and decorated personnel. As the Omaha World Heraldstated “[s]he was among the women of America who fought to bring to women a birthright of equality and improve conditions for the oppressed.”[2] The quote shows how influential her work had become. Not only did she influence life on campus, but the way society viewed and treated those who were oppressed. She had a lifelong career of helping people and making equality and human rights obtainable for many people. Her most popular and influential work was focused heavily on women’s rights and social work.

While her writings influenced the University of Nebraska’s curriculum, her work was influenced by the Fabian Women’s Society, a London based feminist organization. The organization was Abbott’s introduction to England’s feminist wave. Their ideologies as an organization rang heavily throughout Abbott’s work. The best example in which Abbott pulls inspiration from are two pamphlets. One of them being The Economics Foundations of The Women’s Movement, they discuss society's attitudes towards marriage, economic independence, sex, work and children. It also addresses how women have these societal ideals of being a mother and a wife forced upon them in order to prevent them from becoming economically independent. Since the world is set up around becoming financially independent to live, therefore women are dependent on men.[3] These ideas seem to heavily influence not only Abbott’s work, but also her personal life as she was never married, never had children and worked heavily find a place for women in society.

Another pamphlet that helped developed Abbotts’ work was Trade Unionism Amongst Women by Mary R. Macarthur, who was the general secretary of the Fabian Women’s society. The pamphlet discusses how women need to organize in order to prevent exploitation in the workplace. The society talks about how women being implemented in the workplace will allow for more doors to open for equality in the general public such as their health, working while pregnant, place in the household, education etc. [4] The strategy presented in these works is something Abbott heavily believed in and wrote about frequently. She believes the best way to be seen and treated as equals is to get equal standing in the workplace and have that standing protected under law.

After being introduced to the Fabian Women's Society Abbott expanded her horizons to other women's groups in England. The expansion allowed her to cultivate new ideas along with the English movement which Abbott then pointed toward the American movement. An example of her work being influenced

by the English movement is her pamphlet, Woman Suffrage Militant: The New Movement in England, which was published in 1906. Abbott’s writing showcases a problem that was consistent in America. High-class women were not actually taking action to solve the problems they faced in America, but merely talking about it with other elite women. Abbott shows how English women took action because their voices were not being heard by the politicians in powers in England. English women needed to create a larger conversation that allowed not only high-class women, but women and men of all classes. They had to gain mass amounts of support to take it from a discussion to a movement. Once it did, the women fought until they gained united support from the Labor Party, one of the biggest political parties in England, in the House with a promise of passing their bill. [5] The pamphlet seems to be not only an analysis of what the English women's movement did right, but also a rallying call for the US feminist movement. The movement in the US seemed to put to a halt shortly after the start of it. Abbott was telling women to stop talking about equality and actually do something to get it because it will not happen on its own.

Abbott’s work that surrounded women was heavily influenced by England and their own feminist movements revolving around the workplace. Her works became a push for the feminist movement in America that was not active. Edith pushed her work into the University of Chicago because of her influence as the dean. She would later be credited with creating what now would be known as the Social Work Program at the University of Chicago.[6] Her influence would eventually spread out to other universities in Illinois and eventually other schools outside of the state. One of them being the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The University of Nebraska was founded on a land grant, which allowed the university to open their doors to everyone. The opening of the university made it one of the first ‘people’s universities’ in the country, meaning the access higher education was now available to not only rich, white men. Nebraska became a forefront of not only diversifying the student body, but also cutting-edge curriculum. The university strayed away from the traditional ideas of only teaching Latin, Greek and Mathematics.[7] Overall, Nebraska had encompassed itself as a step forward into the future set up of higher education. While this task was not without challenges, the university eventually found its footing and by the time Abbott got there, it was expanding rapidly. The university’s catalog between the 1894-1895 was around 50 pages while the next year of 1895-1896 was around 200 pages.[8]

 The university was growing into itself and with this came the ‘golden age’ of students such as Willa Cather and Louise Pound, both of which Edith would be considered friends with. During this growth period many new classes and ideas were implemented at the university allowing it to develop into the diverse educational system it is today. While the university seemed to flourish in giving students new opportunities and center to cultivate new ideas, there were still many voices who were still left out. One of the main ones being women and their status in society. In fact, University of Nebraska Lincoln’s Women Studies Program didn’t start until 1976. That is not to say there were not women centered classes before that, in 1971, "Women in Contemporary Society" was taught through the Home Economics and Sociology Department. By 1972 other courses on women were soon offered, but it wasn’t until 1976 when the Women Studies was seen as ‘degree worthy’ by the university. [9]

In 1910, Abbott’s influential book Women in Industry was published in 1910. The book showcases women and their standing in the workforce, economy and market place. The book depicts how women were pushed to the side throughout history when it comes to these topics and the effects on women and their place in society. Abbott argues women did not suddenly replace men in the 19th century, contrary to popular belief women were always there. In fact,

women and children were a consistent and strong feature of American industries in general, but they were mostly found in the manufacturing industry.” [10]Abbott also touches on the ideas of wages playing a large factor of why women and children were overlooked and often still fell into dependence on men. These ideas were heavily influenced by the ideas of the previously presented by the feminist movement happening in England. The ideas being presented were fairly radical at the time for the early eighteenth-century American public. Even with that the book would be eventually be claimed to be one of the first influences in diversifying and recognizing women and the inequality they faced within the work environment.

Due to the heavy influence and cultivation of differing ideas the book would soon be implemented at universities. They were used to teach the students how women were subjected to harsher conditions, lower wages and harder labor than men at the time, but none of this seemed to be acknowledged by the general public. Eventually, the book found its way to the University of Nebraska. In 1916, an article in the Daily Nebraskan stated “The department of sociology of Nebraska university uses Miss Abbott’s book, Women in Industry” [11]Her work gave the university a look into women and their roles that society has placed on them. The implementation of the book was one of the first looks into women and their place in the workplace in the early twentieth century. 

Since the University of Nebraska Lincoln’s Women Studies Program didn’t start until 1976, it goes without saying the program was created much after Abbott’s time at the university, but that is not to say her presence was not important in creating the program. Her book was not only influential over all, but it also gave the university its first look at analyzing women and their place in society. While her book specifically looked at women in industry it still examined women and how they were overshadowed and overlooked in the industry. These ideas are at the epicenter of women’s studies. The women who proposed this program wanted to create a space in the higher academic world that would deal with the issue’s women faced.

The creation of this department allowed students who pursue this degree are able to learn about the contributions of women throughout history that were often overlooked by society. The discipline analyzes women within the work spaces much like Abbott did with Women in Industry. It also examines women’s roles in society and how their place in the world is affected by them being women and how women can work against the barriers which have been placed on them. [12] The women studies courses and program have taken all of these ideas which were strongly held and presented in Abbott’s book and cultivated them into something larger.

While there is no specific correlation that Abbott’s book itself was the pure cause of the creation of the women’s program, it most likely is not. There were countless other women whose work was being used before the women studies program was created, but the implementation of Abbott’s book was the first critical read of women in society. There is still an impact that was left there as it was the first in-depth look at women as an essential part of the workforce. Abbott broke the barrier at the university allowed for women and women studies to be seen as an academic program with value. The implementation helped shaped the future of women studies at the University of Nebraska. 

Notes

  1. Deegan, Mary Jo and Michael R. Hill. 1991.  Edith Abbott (1876-1957). Pp. 29-36 in
  2. Women in Sociology: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook, edited by Mary Jo Deegan. New York: Greenwood Press. “She Earned Her Fame.” Omaha World Herald.Newspaper. December 21st, 1975. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Edith and Grace Abbott, Papers. MS 129: Box 1, folder 7.
  3. Mabel Atkinson. The Economics Foundations of The Women’s Movement. Pamphlet. 1914. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Edith and Grace Abbott, Papers. MS 129. Box 11, folder 18.
  4. Macarthur. Trade Unionism Amongst Women. Pamphlet. January 1908. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Edith and Grace Abbott, Papers. MS 129. Box 11, folder 19.
  5. Abbot, Edith. Woman Suffrage Militant: The New Movement in England. Pamphlet. 1906. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Edith and Grace Abbott, Papers. MS 129. Box 13, folder 2.
  6. “She Earned Her Fame.”
  7. Frontier University Dreams, Documentary, Nebraska's PBS and NPR Station. https://vimeo.com/183757076
  8. University catalogs and Bulletins from 1894-1895, 1895-1896. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. RG 00-07-00. Box 1, folder 21-23.
  9. Rue, The History of Women's Studies at UNL. Article. The History of Women's Studies at UNL, https://www.unl.edu/wgs/history.
  10. Abbot, Edith. Women in Industry: A Study in American Economics. Vernon Press, 2014.
  11. "The Women's Point of View: Edith Abbott." Daily Nebraskan. Newspaper Archives. https://nebnewspapers.unl.edu/lccn/sn96080312/1916-03-14/ed-1/seq-5/.
  12. Rue
  13. “Grace and Edith Abbott.” Photographic Image. University of Chicago Magazine. https://magazine.uchicago.edu/0810/features/legacy.shtml.
  14. "Abbott, Edith." Photographic Image. Encyclopædia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edith-Abbott/images-videos/media/592/118920

Bibliography

  • "Abbott, Edith." Photographic Image. Encyclopædia Britannica. Accessed April 9, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edith-Abbott/images-videos/media/592/118920.
  • Abbot, Edith. Women in Industry: A Study in American Economics. Book. Vernon Press, 2014.
  • Abbott, Edith. Woman Suffrage Militant: The New Movement in England. Pamphlet. 1906. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Edith and Grace Abbott, Papers. MS 129. Box 13, folder 2.
  • Deegan, Mary Jo and Michael R. Hill. Article. 1991.  Edith Abbott (1876-1957). Pp. 29-36 in Women in Sociology: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook, edited by Mary Jo Deegan. New York: Greenwood Press.
  • Frontier University Dreams. Documentary, Nebraska's PBS and NPR Station. https://vimeo.com/183757076
  • “Grace and Edith Abbott.” Photographic Image. University of Chicago Magazine. Accessed April 9, 2019. https://magazine.uchicago.edu/0810/features/legacy.shtml.
  • Mabel Atkinson. The Economics Foundations of The Women’s Movement. Pamphlet. 1914. . Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-LincolnEdith and Grace Abbott, Papers. MS 129. Box 11, folder 18.
  • Macarthur. Trade Unionism Amongst Women. Pamphlet. January 1908. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Edith and Grace Abbott, Papers. MS 129. Box 11, folder 19.
  •  Rue. The History of Women's Studies at UNL. Article. The History of Women's Studies at UNL.https://www.unl.edu/wgs/history.
  • She Earned Her Fame”. Omaha World Herald. Newspaper. December 21st, 1975. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
  •  "The Women's Point of View: Edith Abbott." Daily Nebraskan. Newspaper. Newspaper Archives.https://nebnewspapers.unl.edu/lccn/sn96080312/1916-03-14/ed-1/seq-5/.
  • University catalogs from 1894-1895, 1895-1896. Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. RG 00-07-00. Box 1, folder 21-23.

 

Breaking Barriers: Edith Abbott and the Influence of her Work at the University of Nebraska Lincoln in the Twentieth Century