Women

A young woman walks arm in arm with a rabbit carrying a basket of Easter eggs. A tonsured monk standing in the background is startled by what he sees.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Humor magazines of the day frequently published Easter issues or focused on seasonal themes which were seldom religious in nature. In this case, either a dreaded Lenten sacrifices, or the end of such strictures. Cartoonist L. M. Glackens was beginning his role as a major staff member on Puck at this time. After a decade drawing magazine cartoons, he entered the nascent animated-cartoon field. His brother William Glackens was a member of “The Eight,” or the “Ashcan School,” major Post-Impressionist and Naturalist schools of American art.

An actress and her manager sit in an office. Caption: The Star — I’ve had my diamonds stolen three times and been married four. Now, what else can I do? / Manager — You might take lessons in acting!

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1902-03-19

A series of vignettes illustrate how women’s social life impacts their domestic life, their problems with servants, the troubles neglected children get into, and how home life can be improved by curtailing their social life. The heading over the main scene states: Grand Federation of the Housewives of America for the Protection against incompetence, insolence, & dominance of the Servant Girl in the household.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Puck delivers two blows against common themes of the day: Feminism that resulted in what critics then called “The Emancipated Woman” is depicted by cartoonist Ehrhart as producing unruly children and troubled marriages, and, Puck suggests, if women returned to their household duties, the scourge of unsophisticated and domineering immigrant servants would end.

A crowd waiting for President Roosevelt’s arrival

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1905-06-23

Uncle Sam stands at center, gesturing to the left toward American soldiers boarding ships to return to America after defeating the Spanish in the Philippines, and gesturing to the right toward a group of matronly women, one labeled “Daughters of the Revolution,” who have just arrived to educate the peoples of the Philippines. Caption: Uncle Sam–You have seen what my sons can do in war – now see what my daughters can do in peace.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Ehrhart’s cartoon perfectly illustrates the United States’ stated intention toward the Philippine Islands after Spain’s surrender in the Spanish-American War, moreover, President McKinley’s goal of “Christianizing” the natives. He declared this goal after he was reluctantly persuaded to declare war and the post-war reality was different, as rebels led by Emilio Aguinaldo fiercely resisted the American occupiers in what would be several years of bloody guerrilla battles. The cartoon intended to portray noble intentions, yet was somewhat patronizing — among the women uplifters is a domestic servant with a carpet-beater, implying that natives lacked basic customs of cleanliness. 

A woman and a girl with a bouquet of flowers for President Roosevelt at a railroad station

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-07-18

Mrs. James Tanner has strongly urged that a representative from California be sent to St. Petersburg, preferably Emma A. Harrington. Harrington is head of the Red Cross in California and is recommended by Senator Perkins.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-04-04

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Charles Fletcher Lummis for his letter and the enclosed editorials. Roosevelt is glad to hear the way the women voted in California.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-05-30

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary grants permission for Mr. Halsey to reprint Roosevelt’s speech on womanhood and childhood.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-05-21

Theodore Roosevelt is grateful to know of the feelings Judge Buffington’s mother had for Roosevelt, as well as the feelings Buffington had for his mother. Roosevelt feels that “the best women of the future must necessarily be like the best women of the past.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-05-06

Eunice A. Jennison tells Lyman Abbott, editor of The Outlook, that she is glad to hear that Theodore Roosevelt will have a “pulpit” at the magazine. Jennison expresses her desire for a moral revolution among American women and believes that Roosevelt can and should lead it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-03-17

Lyman Abbott thanks President Roosevelt for the letter and enclosure, and assumes he is at liberty to publish the enclosure in The Outlook as long as he leaves out the marked passages that Roosevelt wishes omitted. Abbott does note that the people who received the original letter may take this publication as permission to publish the entire letter without omissions. He feels that the movement to allow women into public life is “a movement against that work in the home” which Roosevelt says is more important than “any man’s work.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-25

S.M. Fields writes to President Roosevelt regarding statements made by Jeff Davis, Governor of Arkansas and imprisonment of women.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-01-07

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward called President Roosevelt’s secretary to seek some advice and considers sending a message to the Portsmouth peace talks on behalf of women.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-08-22

George W. Smalley writes to President Roosevelt in regard to his address to “the mothers.” Smalley states that maternity is one of the highest duties and integral to the development of women. He refers to a quotation by Napoleon indicating that women who bear children are the most admirable. Smalley tells Roosevelt that he states his views “in a way that best reaches the ‘plain people.'”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-03-20

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

1915

Creator(s)

Edward H. Mitchell (Publisher)

Language

English

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

1908

Creator(s)

Island Curio Co.

Language

English

Colorized photograph of three Hawaiian woman and a young girl relaxing on grass mats. The woman on the left is holding a guitar.

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

Unknown

Postcard showing three women. Charles C. Myers notes they are native girls of the Philippines and their way of dressing.

Comments and Context

In Charles C. Myers’s own words, “Three typical Philipine [sic] maidens.”

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Postcard showing a Chinese woman sitting in a rickshaw being pulled by a Chinese man. Dragon motifs are visible in the top corners. Charles C. Myers comments on Chinese women’s use of rickshaws.

Comments and Context

In Charles C. Myers’s own words, “Chinese Rickshaw, similar to Japanese Rick-i-sha and used the same. In addition to this the Chinese use the sedan chair, which is a sort of chair with poles attached to it so as two or four men can carry it. This sort of a chair is used to carry fashionable women to their places of worship as their feet are so small and deformed by the use of wooden shoes that they can walk but very little. But for facial expression, I saw some Chinese women that were very good looking all except their eyes.”

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection