History 12B: United States Women's History: 1890 to the Present. In 1892 Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered a speech to the Congressional Judiciary committee. Titled "A Solitude of Self," Cady Stanton used this speech in an attempt to persuade the men in that august meeting that, in order to meet the challenges of life, women needed all the same opportunities as men. While Cady Stanton, a pre-eminent philosopher and tireless woman's rights advocate, was not successful on that specific day, the work she did provided a plinth, solid ground to stand on. Over 100 years later, we are almost there. This course covers the crucial events of the last 150 years and the ways that women interacted with those events to shape their lives. Beginning as the United States sought to both bind the nations wounds after Reconstruction and consolidate control over the West, this course covers all the various ways in which women contributed to the development of the U.S. as a modern nation and global leader. Working to aid the nation through the social challenges created by the Second Industrial Revolution, women will push for prohibition, demand government regulations to stem the abuses of factory work, contribute to the home front during World War I, and gain the vote. After the Great War many women will revel in the freedoms offered by the Roaring Twenties and the take advantage of the anonymity of urbanization to expand their own personal experiences. The tragedies of the Great Depression that followed were often unavoidable, like a hang over after too much time in a speakeasy. Restructuring the nation during the New Deal provided additional opportunities for women, but it was the demand for labor during World War II that really opened the door to women's economic opportunities. By the time of the civil rights movement and the call for feminist liberation, many women were demanding full access to modern womanhood: education, a job, and birth control to control her own destiny. Not all women worked for the same goals, and not all women worked together. Racial and ethnic tensions abounded. But through it all, and from diverse positions, women actively shaped the transition of the U.S. into a global power. In the process, they became scientists, politicians, CEOs, entrepreneurs, Supreme Court judges. Their story remains unfinished. But in November 2021, Kamala Harris, the first female Vice President, held the powers of the office of the President for the first while the President was under anesthesia. Cady Stanton surely must have been smiling.
Enrolling Before Class Begins
If you would like to take this course, and there are still available seats, register for this class online. If the class is full but there are seats available on the waitlist, put your name on the waitlist. Waitlisted students will receive first priority to add the class as seats become available. If the waitlist is full, students need to find an alternate section of the course.
Enrolling After the First Day of Class
If you would like to take this course and the course has already started, you need to request an authorization online via MyRAM. After you request an authorization online, I will receive a notification of your request and either approve it or deny it depending on the number of students already enrolled. If I approve your request, you will receive an email in your CCSF student email. This email will provide instructions for how to add the class online. You will then be enrolled. It may take up to 24 hours for the course to show up in your Canvas. After it shows up, email me in Canvas Inbox so that I can adjust the first weeks' due dates for assignments. All students who add the course after the first day of class will be expected to immediately catch up on all coursework already assigned.
