Women in the 19C United States of America: March 2020

Monday, March 30, 2020

Winter in 19C America - Delivery Boy

John George Brown (1831-1913) Delivery Boy 1863

In the midst of our 3rd snowfall this week. Lots of snow on the ground and the trees. Birds are fighting over the seeds in the birdfeeders. Winter is on the way.

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Winter in 19C America - Tones of Snow by George Inness (1825-1894)

George Inness (American Hudson River School & Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) Home at Montclair

George Inness (American Hudson River School & Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) Winter Evening

George Inness (American Hudson River School & Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) Winter, Close of Day

George Inness (American Hudson River School & Tonalist Painter, 1825-1894) Christmas Eve

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Winter in 19C America - Boston & New York City by American Arthur Clifton Goodwin 1864-1929

Arthur Clifton Goodwin (American artist, 1864-1929) Looking Down Tremont, Boston

Arthur Clifton Goodwin (American artist, 1864-1929) A View of the Plaza from Central Park, New York City

Arthur Clifton Goodwin (American artist, 1864-1929) The Wharf and Custom House Tower, ca. 1915

Arthur Clifton Goodwin (American artist, 1864-1929) Busy Winter Day, Tremont and Park Streets, Boston

Arthur Clifton Goodwin (American artist, 1864-1929) Copley Square, Boston 1908

Arthur Clifton Goodwin (American artist, 1864-1929) Copley Square, Boston

Arthur Clifton Goodwin (American artist, 1864-1929) Misty Winter Morning

Arthur Clifton Goodwin (American artist, 1864-1929) Tremont Street, Boston, 1911

Arthur Clifton Goodwin (American artist, 1864-1929) Park Street Church in Winter

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Winter in 19C America - New England by George Henry Durrie 1820–1863

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Going to Church 1853

George Henry Durrie was an American artist whose rural winter scenes became popular during the Civil War era. Durrie was born in New Haven, Connecticut, where his father was an emigrant from England, & his mother was a descendant of Governor William Bradford, a Mayflower pilgrim. Durrie taught himself to paint in his teens. In 1839, Durrie & his brother John began 2 years of artistic instruction from Nathaniel Jocelyn, a local engraver & portrait painter. Much of Durrie’s early career was spent as an itinerant portrait painter, traveling over the countryside in search of commissions in rural areas. In 1839, Durrie traveled to Hartford & Bethany, Connecticut; and 1840-1841, he worked in Naugatuck & Meriden, Connecticut, and in Freehold & Keyport, New Jersey. After 1842, he settled in New Haven with his new wife & growing family; but he made painting trips to New Jersey, New York, & Virginia. His account book shows at this time his portraits were between $5 to & $15 each. To supplement his income, Durrie did other painting jobs such as altering portraits, varnishing, & painting decorative motifs on window shutters. Around 1850, he began painting genre scenes of rural life & winter landscapes; as portrait painters began to lose business to the camera. An advertisement in the New Haven Daily Register reads: “Having engaged for a few months past in painting a number of choice Winter Scenes, [G. H. Durrie] would offer them at public sale to the admirers of the fine arts… It is needless to add that no collection of pictures is complete without one or more Winter Scenes.” Four of his prints were published by Currier & Ives between 1860 & the artist's death in New Haven in 1863; & 6 additional prints were issued after his death.

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) A Cold Morning

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Gathering Wood for Winter 1855

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Hunter in Winter Wood

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Farmstead in Winter 1860

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Farmyard in Winter 1862

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Yellow Farmhouse in Winter 1859

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Wintertime on the Farm

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter Scene New Haven Connecticut 1858

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter Scene in New England 1859

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter Scene 1857

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter Landscape

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter Landscape with Log Cart 1855

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter in the Country the Old Grist Mill 1862

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter in the Country on a Cold Morning 1861

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter in the Country Getting Ice 1862

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter in the Country Farmyard 1858

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter in the Country 1861

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter in the Country 1857

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter in New England 1852

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter Farmyard and Sleigh

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Winter Farm Yard 1855

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) The Halfway House 1861

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Seven Miles to Farmington

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Red Schoolhouse Winter 1858

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) On the Road to Boston

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) New England Winter Scene 1858

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Ketcham Farm in Winter, New Haven

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Jones Inn Winter 1855

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Jones Inn in Winter 1853

George Henry Durrie (American artist, 1820–1863) Feeding the Sheep 1862

Sunday, March 22, 2020

About this blog

In colonial America, men were considered superior to woman in all ways. In a strict patriarchal hierarchy, men controlled not only wealth & political power but also how their children were raised, religious questions, & all matters of right & wrong.

In the early part of the 19Cy, however, many Americans experienced a revolution in gender. The doctrine of “separate spheres” maintained that woman’s sphere was the world of privacy, family, & morality while man’s sphere was the public world -– economic striving, political maneuvering, & social competition. But women were interested in equality.

In 1848, New York passed the Married Woman’s Property Act. Now a woman wasn’t automatically liable for her husband’s debts; she could enter contracts on her own; she could collect rents or receive an inheritance in her own right; she could file a lawsuit on her own behalf. She became for economic purposes, an individual. By 1900, every state has passed legislation modeled after this, granting married women some control over their property and earnings.

In 1870 after the Civi War, the 15th Amendment was ratified, saying, “The right 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 race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” African-Americans could vote, but women could not.

But it was not until 1920, that the 19th Amendment was ratified granting women the right to vote. “The right 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.”

Women in the 19C United States of America