Speaker: Dr. Cathleen Cahill

Meeting Dates: Mondays, March 11th, 18th, 25th

Meeting Time: 5:00 pm PST - 6:30 pm PST

This foundational course explores women’s political activity and strategies. Women in US history have always been politically engaged, though the forms of their activism have varied throughout time.

In this class, we primarily focus on women in the Progressive Era, a period spanning the 1890s through WWI. Historians often describe it as a moment of modernization in which Americans confronted issues that remain with us today such as racism and segregation, labor activism, immigration agitation, environmental conservation, and calls for sexual equality.

With a focus on a group of diverse women, we will explore their creative and powerful efforts to address these issues and change their world. In doing so, we will consider what motivated them to become active. What kinds of resistance they faced. How they overcome obstacles. And how they strategically fought for what they believed in. Although we will focus on individual stories, they were not exceptional, but representative of many other women who fought for equality, dignity, and justice. Their stories are inspiring for today's activists and lessons to be learned from as well.