Women’s Lives: 1900 – 1920

At the turn of the twentieth century, twenty percent of women worked outside the home. Migration from farms and rural towns to the cities continued at a rapid pace. Hours were long and working conditions continued to be dangerous in factories. Women were still considered inferior to men, as evidenced by lower wages, and fewer educational and employment opportunities. Women could still not vote in many states. Over the next two decades, women found their voices, and with the help of the progressive movement made strides toward improving working conditions and opportunities, toward liberalizing women’s reproductive rights, and toward equal voting rights.

The spirit and movement of progressivism was alive and well during this time period, which “appealed to the expanding middle class, prosperous farmers, and skilled laborers” (Divine, 655). It also “demanded social justice in the form of women’s rights, child labor laws, temperance and factory safety” (655). This spirit of social justice, and the dedication of activists, found its most significant accomplishment in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which reads “The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Prior to the ratification of the 19th Amendment, women were able to vote in sixteen states, which represented progress, as in 1900, women were allowed voting rights in only four states.

Women began forming clubs and activist groups to discuss a myriad of topics. As Martha E.D. White wrote, “But even without personal enlightenment that counts for so much women’s clubs have been a potent factor in determining public opinion…Laws to raise the standard of public morality, to segregate and classify defective and delinquent classes, to secure the services of women as factory inspectors, police matrons, and on boards of control, are other measures for which womens clubs have successfully worked” (White, 1904).

One such group, the Women’s Trade Union League were responsible for mass protests after the deadly fire at Triangle Shirtwaist Company, which led to an investigation by the state of New York into working conditions, and a recommendation that workweeks be shortened (Divine, 633). The WTUL had already been working on drawing attention to the working conditions of women and children for several years. Their legislative goals, prepared in 1911, included an eight hour work day, the elimination of night work, protected machinery, sanitary workshops, separate bathrooms for women, and seats for the use of women when their work allowed (WTUL, 163). The Industrial Workers of the World, another union, worked toward many of the goals of the WTUL, but were more inclusive in their membership. They promoted the revolution of immigrant workers, and extended their goals beyond the United States (Divine, 644).