Sophonisba Breckinridge : championing women's activism in modern America

Title:

Women, gender, and sexuality in American history

Women, gender, and sexuality in American history.

Author:

Jabour, Anya, author.

Publication Information:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [2019]

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

xv, 382 pages : illustrations 24 cm.

Series:

Women, gender, and sexuality in American history

Women, gender, and sexuality in American history.

Contents:

Introduction: "A Woman's Work" and "The Work of the World" -- Becoming a Breckinridge: A Kentucky Childhood -- Preparation for citizenship: An "All-Around Girl" at Wellesley College -- Striving for the Ideal: Female Achievement and the Family Claim -- Academic Activism: Social Science and Social Reform in Progressive-Era Chicago -- The Other "Chicago School": The School of Social Service Administration -- Defining Equality: Fairness and Feminism -- Women Against War: An International Movement for Peace and Justice -- The Potential and Pitfalls of Pan-American Feminism -- Toward a National Minimum: Women Building the Welfare State -- "A & B": A Productive Partnership -- Epilogue: Passionate Patience.

Summary:

"Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge (1866-1948) was an activist, social reformer, and educator who spent most of her life in Chicago whose life and work extended from the Civil War to the Cold War. Though a contemporary and partner to Jane Addams, this will be the first comprehensive biography of Sophie Breckinridge. While nationally and internationally renowned during her lifetime, Breckinridge has only received brief entries in the histories of women activism and social history. In this project, Anya Jabor examines Breckinridge's entire life and work, which includes involvement in nearly every type of reform of the Progressive and New Deal eras, from legal aid for immigrants, civil rights for blacks, labor legislation for workers, and juvenile courts for youth. With an M.A. in political science and a PhD in political economy, Breckinridge was a champion of women's education and helped to professionalize social work, thereby creating new career opportunities for educated women. She also advocated for safe working conditions, minimum wage, and full citizenship rights for women and established the School of Social Service Administration--a feminist "think tank" that addressed all of these issues and made women key players in policymaking. Internationally, her work had an immense influence on the formation of the League of Nations and the United Nations. She cofounded the U.S. chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and was the first woman to represent the U.S. at an international diplomatic conference. Jabour eloquently presents the rich life and works of a figure whose impact spanned decades and expands the definition of women's activism in modern America and offers fresh insights into the development and legacy of feminism." -- Provided by publisher.

Personal Subject:

Breckinridge, Sophonisba P. (Sophonisba Preston), 1866-1948.

Subject Term:

Feminists -- United States -- Biography.

Feminism -- United States -- History -- 19th century.

Feminism -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Women social workers -- United States -- Biography.

Women social reformers -- United States -- Biography.

ISBN:

9780252042676

9780252084515

Document ID:

SD_ILS:4259616

Availability:

Library	Call Number	Format	Status
Searching... Brockton Public Library	305.4209 JAB	BOOK	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Sophonisba Breckinridge's remarkable career stretched from the Civil War to the Cold War. She took part in virtually every reform campaign of the Progressive and New Deal eras and became a nationally and internationally renowned figure. Her work informed women's activism for decades and continues to shape progressive politics today. Anya Jabour's biography rediscovers this groundbreaking American figure. After earning advanced degrees in politics, economics, and law, Breckinridge established the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration, which became a feminist think tank that promoted public welfare policy and propelled women into leadership positions. In 1935, Breckinridge's unremitting efforts to provide government aid to the dispossessed culminated in her appointment as an advisor on programs for the new Social Security Act. A longtime activist in international movements for peace and justice, Breckinridge also influenced the formation of the United Nations and advanced the idea that "women's rights are human rights." Her lifelong commitment to social justice created a lasting legacy for generations of progressive activists.

Reviews (2)

Booklist Review

Jabour provides a fascinating chronicle of a forgotten feminist. Extremely active and influential during the course of her own lifetime, Sophonisba Breckinridge has been sadly neglected by historians. Born in 1866 into an elite Confederate family, she defied the social strictures of her time and class, earning advanced degrees in politics, economics, and law. Unable to fully infiltrate these male-dominated fields, she turned her attention to the social sciences and was instrumental in creating a new profession for women: social work. A committed social reformer, Breckinridge was actively engaged in an array of worthy causes beyond women's rights, including immigration reform, racial equality, and the plight of the working class. Despite her close personal and professional associations with the leading feminists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and despite being widely regarded as one of the most prominent and progressive women of her era, Breckinridge's substantial legacy has been relegated to footnote status in scholarly treatises. Jabour rectifies this oversight with a compelling biography that resurrects the life and times of this noteworthy feminist.--Margaret Flanagan Copyright 2010 Booklist

Choice Review

One of the most influential and persistent American women of her era, Sophonisba Breckinridge (1866--1948) has long eluded biographers, as the breadth of her activism for woman suffrage, working women, immigrants, African Americans, child laborers, and world peace is intimidating. Hailing from a famed Kentucky political family, she spent her adult life in Chicago, earning advanced degrees in law, economics, and political science, and later established the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration. Breckinridge used her position to advance social policy based on social research. Through the League of Women Voters she recommended amendments to the Cable Act (1922) to provide independent citizenship to married women and opposed the Equal Rights Amendment on the grounds that treating women as equal to men ignored the circumstances that inherently disadvantaged women. She also advocated for the creation of the Children's Bureau, protested WW I as a cofounder of the Woman's Peace Party, and advocated for social security a decade before the New Deal made it a reality. Bureaucratic battles are rarely exciting, making this a dry read in many places, but Breckinridge's importance cements this as a critical work. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Caryn E. Neumann, Miami University