The exploration of nineteenth-century southern womanhood reveals the challenges faced by young, elite, white women during the Civil War. Anya Jabour highlights how this pivotal moment transformed their roles, pushing them towards independence and reshaping their identities. By examining the real-life counterparts of a celebrated fictional character, the book delves into the complexities of their experiences and the societal expectations they navigated.
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.
Focusing on a well-documented marriage, Jabour's book offers a microhistorical perspective that explores the evolving tensions between societal ideals and the realities faced by the couple throughout their marriage and parenting journey. This intimate examination reveals the complexities of their relationship and the challenges they navigated over time.
Focusing on the interplay between marriage, gender relations, and childhood, this text provides an in-depth exploration of family history in America. It examines race, ethnicity, and class from colonial times to the present, with particular attention to Native Americans and Latinos. The narrative connects historical developments with significant political events, offering a balanced view of public policy towards families alongside personal experiences of family life. This comprehensive approach makes it a valuable resource for understanding the complexities of American family dynamics.
This book brings into sharp relief the way in which gender, race, slavery, and status shaped the lives of children in the American South before, during, and after the Civil War. She argues that the identities children developed in the antebellum era shaped their responses to the upheavals of the war years and their lives after the war's conclusion.