The
progressive movement was one of movers and shakers, but also the
everyday people who wanted a different path than those on offer at the
time. People who got involved really did come in from all walks of
life. The key groups involved for Stromquist are middle class and lower
class (workers) (Stromquist pg 194, 196), and progressivism in
Stromquist emerged from class conflict (Stromquist pg 194). But we also
have Flanagan whose key groups were Progressive men and women from the
city clubs such as the City Club (largely middle class white men) and
the Women’s City Club (often wives or relatives of City Club members,
but also professional women) (Flanagan pg 1035), and progressivism was
driven by both clubs, but primarily by the Women’s Club which was more
concerned with reforms for the betterment of all (Flanagan pg 1050).
The
authors may differ in which groups had bigger roles to play but I
think that they are both correct in the groups they see as influential.
The progressive movement was pushed by people from all walks of life
and both genders. They all play a big part in the push to better
conditions, they just come in from different angles. The lower class
men and women who worked the factories, or the street cars in Cleveland
in Stromquist’s article, wanted better conditions; the middle class men
and women involved in the Progressive movement saw the need and tried to
improve the station of their neighbors and improve the areas they lived
in as well. Both class and gender pushed these groups to come at the
problem from different perspectives but this helped the movement pick up
speed and do so much more than just any one group alone. Flanagan
talks about how without the women getting involved and pushing first for
municipal improvements, both for themselves and those less fortunate,
things like, trash collecting and regulation to make milk safe to buy
would not have occurred to the men in politics, or would have been at
odds with the men’s primary focus on business and efficiency. While the
women, in Flanagan’s article, were focused on social issues, they
believed that municipal issues had to be resolved before the city would
be a good place to live which made them active in political issues as
well (Flanagan 1045). And while women drew from their home experience
to focus on making sure everyone in the household was taken care of, the
men drew from their business experience, looking to increase efficiency
and profit (Flanagan 1046).
Now
Stromquist believed that progressivism emerged from class conflict, and
the working class was a driving force in it. (Stromquist 194) I do not
think that he is error in that these people had a great influence on
the situation but I do not think they were the only influences.
Stromquist and Flanagan are likely both right, and wrong. The greater
acceptance of the women’s club in Flanagan (1047) is not incompatible
with the participation of the lower classes mentioned in Stromquist
(Stromquist 194). And as such the clubs that got involved were not the
only voices involved either. It is the combination of all these forces
that truly made the movement what it became.
I agree with your point that the effect of all these groups together made broad change happen - these groups and more. Lots of small groups, nation-wide, inching progress forward, eventually brought about great progress. But it is interesting to look closely at the groups presented by these authors and see how they were different in their approaches and effectiveness. From these examples, I think the women’s groups had a better approach. They were making themselves part of the solution by engaging with problems directly (ie: the garbage problem, settlement houses)(1). Their more altruistic attitude was aimed at improving society via positive changes, rather than the negative, conflict-driven protests and strikes that even Stromquist says created an environment for change, but no actual change(2).
ReplyDelete1. Maureen A. Flanagan, “Gender and Urban Political Reform: The City Club and Women’s City Club of Chicago in the Progressive Era,” The American Historical Review 95, no. 4 (1990): 1034, http://www.jstor.org/ (accessed February 9, 2012).
2. Shelton Stromquist, “The Crucible of Class: Cleveland Politics and the Origins of Municipal Reform in the Progressive Era,” Journal of Urban History 23 (1997): 196, http: http://juh.sagepub.com/ (accessed February 9, 2012).
I agree that the movement was started by the working class and that it took more than the working class to keep the progressive movement going. The ability for the common people to stand up and demand more rights both politically, and socially is amazing. Both the political and labor reforms put into effect because of the progressive movement still greatly impact us today. Women had the ability to effect politics without having a vote in the matter which is outstanding.
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