Lancy

= Beare US History Research Wiki Journal Prompts = = =


 * Journal Entry 1:** Topic and ideas -- What are you investigating? What are the questions that are guiding your investigation.

My topic is propaganda as it related to women in the 20th century. I am hoping to focus that to three main areas: World War One, World War Two, and the Cold War. Originally, the last area was the Vietnam War, but, after lots of searching, I was unable to find any information/posters of relevance or importance to my topic. The Cold War is a broader area, but the results have been much greater than when I just stuck to Vietnam. Additionally, I have abundant information pertaining to women, propaganda, and World War II. While it has been easy to dig up info in that field, I am still working on finding solid information on WWI. I have also checked out a few books that have propaganda posters. Like the info on WWII, I have had no problem finding posters. Again, they mostly focus on WWII, so one of my goals is to get more posters from WWI and the Cold War. Some questions: 1. What was the place of women in society during each specific time period? 2. How does the propaganda of the time period reflect (or not) on that role? 3. How does the propaganda from each period compare to that of the different eras? How is it different? Similar? 4. How do these differences reflect on the changes (or lack thereof) of the woman’s role? Do they provide any commentary on American society?

I want to be able to compare/contrast/analyze the artwork based on information about the place of women in society and the current events of the time.


 * Journal Entry 2:** A comment on your process to date, a brief discussion of your sources, and a listing of sources you are currently working with (correct Turabian format). This should be a significant step forward from your initial bibliography.

Process:

Originally, my thought was that books about propaganda would have information relating to women and propaganda. So, I looked for books on propaganda, deciding that I should be able to get good information from those sources. However, I discovered that books on propaganda really didn’t have much to say on women. This meant that I would have to piece my research together. I had to find books on women and propaganda relating to women and then connect them. I have been more successful this way, but it has made the research more challenging. Although doing research this way wasn’t preferable, I did get lucky because I did find one book, //Mobilizing Women for War: American and German Propaganda, 1939-1945//, that discussed exactly what I needed it to. It was very helpful to have this book, especially because the rest of the process wasn’t as smooth. In terms of images, the library has great books on posters and propaganda. Therefore the image search has been relatively easy, though I still have to look for some ‘50s and New Feminism images. == I have also been looking for journal articles to supplement the books and images. I found a useful article on female nurses during WWI//, A Base Hospital Is Not a Coney Island Dance Hall//, which provided great information on the role/public image of women in WWI. I hope to find some more articles on women in the 1950s and during the New Feminism era. With journals, you can get a lot of results or none at all. I’ve found that it’s all about using the right words, specific, but not too specific. == == In order to start writing, I need to read up some more on New Feminism. I think that some of the books I have may cover it, but I just haven’t gotten the chance to read them. I also need to find some images relating to New Feminism and the 1950’s. I don’t think this should be hard, it’s a matter of sitting down with some of the image books I have. One of my main priorities is to look over the image books and select the ones I need. I have a bunch of books with countless images. I need to sift through the information to get myself organized. I’m also hoping to find an article or two on women in the 50’s. I’ve searched for them, but I haven’t been entirely successful in finding relevant articles. Hopefully, if I refine my search words, I can get find useful articles. ==

Sources:

//Mobilizing Women for War: American and German Propaganda, 1939-1945// has been one of my main sources. In poking around through other books and inline sources, it is cited frequently. Leila Rupp, the author, used an extensive bibliography and footnotes. This has made me confident that her work is reliable and useful. In //A Base Hospital Is Not a Coney Island Dance Hall//, I noticed a pro-women bias. Kimberly Jensen discusses the prejudiced and rough treatment nurses received during WWI. She writes disparagingly of the men/doctors who inflicted this maltreatment. Yet, she also sites sources extensively, and her information on the public image of women during the time agrees with other information I have on the same topic. I also have some books about women in America: //The Paradox of Change: American women in the 20th Century, Women of America: A History,// and //American Women a Story of Social Change.// Because these books cover a broad period of time, they do not have immensely lengthy sections on the areas of history in which I am interested. But they do provide detailed and informative info which is relevant to the role/public image of women. Their credibility is only reinforced by the fact that the authors are all history professors. I cannot detect a bias because the books really are facts; they aren’t arguing anything.

Bibliography “American Women in the 1950s.” American Studies. Daily Reading Assignments. The Cold War and American Women. [|http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/ lewis]/2010/fifties.htm. (accessed April 11, 2010).

Berkin, Carol and Mary Beth Norton. //Women of America : A History//. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1979.

Bird, William L. and Harry R. Rubenstein. //Design for Victory : World War Ii Posters on the American Home Front//. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1998.

Blatch, Harriot Stanton, Carrie Chapman Catt, and National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection (Library of Congress). //Mobilizing Woman-Power,//. New York: Womans Press, 1918.

Chafe, William Henry and William Henry Chafe. //The Paradox of Change : American Women in the 20th Century//. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. Dumenil, Lynn. “American Women and the Great War.” OAH Magazine of History 17. (October 2002): 64-76. [|http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/ww1/ dumenil.html]. (Accessed April 3, 2010). Heyman, Therese Thau. //Posters American Style//. New York: National Museum of American, Smithsonian Institution in association with H.N. Abrams, 1998. Jensen, Kimberly. "A Base Hospital is Not a Coney Island Dance Hall: American Woman Nurses, Hostile Work Environment, and Military Rank in the First World War." __Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies__ 26 (2005): 206-235. __ [] .Html __(accessed April 13, 2010). National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.) and Corcoran Gallery of Art. //Images of an Era : The American Poster, 1945-75 : [Exhibition].// Washington: National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, 1975.

Rawls, Walton H. //Wake Up, America! : World War I and the American Poster//. New York: Abbeville Press, 1988.

Rickards, Maurice. //Posters of the First World War//. London: Evelyn, Adams & Mackay, 1968. Riegel, Robert Edgar,. //American Women; a Story of Social Change//. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1970.

Rupp, Leila J.,. //Mobilizing Women for War : German and American Propaganda, 1939-1945//. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1978.

Stanley, Peter and Australian War Memorial. //What did You do in the War Daddy? : A Visual History of Propaganda Posters//. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1983.

Sumner, Helen L. //History of Women in Industry in the United States//. New York: Arno Press, 1974.

Victoria and Albert Museum. and Margaret Timmers. //The Power of the Poster//. London: V & A Publications, 1998.


 * Journal Entry 3:** What is your Thesis?

Although World War II’s Rosie the Riveter propaganda campaign seemed to revolutionize the American woman’s role in society, the reality is that the shift in perceptions was only superficial. Rosie did not launch a reformed public image of women, in fact, the campaign reinforced women’s pre-established role.