The Role Of Women During The Progressive Era

The progressive movement was a response to the social and economic problems caused by industrialization. Many progressives sought for social welfare programs and encouraged government activism. Woman played a vital role in progressivism, advocating social, economic, and political change, beginning with making change happen at the local level but eventually bringing progressive issues to national attention. The first glimpse of women involvement during the Progressive Era starts with the establishment of Hull House by Jane Addams in 1889. Emphasizing the need to bridge the gap in the relationship between the wealthy and the poor, Addams established Hull House which provided public baths, restaurants, and recreational sites for the betterment

Alcohol also became another target for women progressives, pointing out that alcohol is connected to prostitution, wife and child abuse, unemployment, and political corruption. In an attempt at social reform, the Anti-Saloon League was established in 1895 that worked together with the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union to end the sale of liquor. “Progressives campaigned to enforce the Sunday closing of taverns. Stores, and other commercial establishments and pushed for state legislation to outlaw the sale of liquor” (563). Through these welfare programs and reform attempts, woman were able to show how they could improve society benefiting by slowing making their way to address issues on a larger scale. The willingness of progressive women leaders to improve the living conditions of the lower class as well as seeking social reform, with both aiming to improve society as a whole, is only one part of how women characterized the Progressive

With the creation of the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) in 1903, attempts to create a cross-class alliance became possible, bringing together women workers and middle class “allies” and allowing for the participation of more members to fight for issues of women regarding their workplace. The WTUL achieved success with the 1909 strike caused by woman employees of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City protesting low wages, dangerous working conditions, and the refusal of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) to recognize their union, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union. “In support, an estimated twenty thousand garment workers, most of them teenage girls and many of them Jewish and Italian immigrants stayed out on strike through the winter” (564). This shows how women of all ages and ethnicities, despite the existence of nativism, began to become involved in the progressive movement. By the end of the strike in 1910, many of the demands of the strikers, including the recognition of their union, were fulfilled. Although some form of success was achieved, the strike did little to improve the working conditions of women overall. Women advocates were faced with reality with the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in 1911. “The terrified