1857 American Farm Yard

Fanny Palmer (American artist, 1812-1876) Published by N Currier American Farm Yard 1857  Women usually kept the poultry.

19C Girls

Abbott Fuller Graves (American artist, 1859 – 1936) The Fisherman's Lesson

 Eastman Johnson (American painter, 1824-1906)   Ice Skater or Girl Warming Hands

John George Brown (American artist, 1831-1913)  We Can't Be Caught

 Eastman Johnson (American painter, 1824-1906)   In the Hayloft

John Joseph Enneking (American artist, 1841 – 1916) Pulling Out the Splinter

John George Brown (American artist, 1831-1913)  Daisy McComb Holding a Pink Rose

John George Brown (American genre paintere, 1831-1913)   Tete a Tete

John George Brown (American artist, 1831-1913)  The Industrious Family

 Eastman Johnson (American painter, 1824-1906)   The Lesson

John George Brown (American genre paintere, 1831-1913)   The Peacemaker

John George Brown (American genre paintere, 1831-1913)  Golden Locks, Left Behind

John George Brown (American genre paintere, 1831-1913)  St Patrick's Day

Eastman Johnson (American painter, 1824-1906)   The Storyteller at the Camp

John George Brown (American genre paintere, 1831-1913)  Hiding in the Old Oak

1862 Man & Woman in Carriage on a Country Morning

Fanny Palmer (American artist, 1812-1876) Published by N Currier Life in the Country Morning 1862

Hard-earned gains for Women at Harvard -1850 Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Alexander Jackson Davis (American architect, 1803-1892),  Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1850

Women’s exclusion from the University began “as a part of the social order of the time," one that went largely unquestioned by both men and women and that was connected to both “tradition and privilege,” said historian Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, speaking at the Radcliffe Institute, in a talk titled “It’s Complicated: 375 Years of Women at Harvard."

Horowitz reviews obstacles, milestones in Radcliffe lecture
Harvard Gazette
By Colleen Walsh,  Harvard Staff Writer 2012

Harvard’s history with women is indeed complicated, said historian Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz Monday at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

In a talk titled “It’s Complicated: 375 Years of Women at Harvard,” the professor emerita of history and American studies at Smith College examined the University’s shifting gender landscape, contending that while the Harvard of today has much to celebrate in regards to women, it still has room to improve.

The lecture took shape as Harvard President Drew Faust and Radcliffe Dean Lizabeth Cohen discussed how the Radcliffe Institute could, said Cohen, “make an intellectual contribution” to commemorate Harvard’s 375th anniversary.

Just as important to the two historians, said Cohen, “was how the history of women at Harvard might be well represented in the course of the anniversary year.”

Faust offered opening remarks at Monday’s event, saying that the past 100 years can be seen as “a narrative of progress” for women at Harvard. Horowitz’s talk, she said, offered “important and enduring lessons for Harvard” — about how change happens, and about how those committed to learning and opportunity “can make their way into a world that comes increasingly to accept and embrace them.”

Women’s exclusion from the University began “as a part of the social order of the time,” said Horowitz, one that went largely unquestioned by both men and women and that was connected to both “tradition and privilege.”

Established in 1636 to educate an all-male clergy, Harvard by the 18th century had developed into a college to educate the “sons of the arriving mercantile elite.” During the industrial revolution of the 19th century, Boston bluebloods and Harvard, she said, “rose together.”

The first women to knock at Harvard’s doors came from the middle class, typically schoolteachers looking for extra instruction in the sciences. But they were merely “thrown crumbs,” such as access to lectures or labs, said Horowitz.

When a group of powerful women, including Elizabeth Cary Agassiz, widow of the famous Harvard scientist Louis Agassiz, founded the Women’s Education Association of Boston, in 1872, and sought to gain the entrance of women into Harvard, it was met with steady resistance.

“We were told not to disturb the present system of education which is the result of the experience and wisdom of the past,” read Horowitz from the group’s records. She noted that at the time both Harvard President Charles William Eliot and the Harvard Corporation were “deeply opposed” to allowing women into Harvard.

Eliot, Faust remarked in her 2004 essay titled “Mingling Promiscuously: A History of Women and Men at Harvard,” “established his position in his inaugural address, declaring that the policing of hundreds of young men and women of marriageable age would be impossible. He had doubts, moreover, about what he called the ‘natural mental capacities’ of the female sex.”

But the association, said Horowitz, would not be deterred. They turned to an innovative solution, developing an institution of their own, one located near Harvard that would offer female students instruction by Harvard professors, “the same courses they taught men in the Yard.”

The “Harvard Annex” opened its doors in 1879. By 1890 more than 200 women were being taught by 70 men. Yet Agassiz continued to push for more. In 1894, Radcliffe College was granted an official charter by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Agassiz was its first president.

Faust, Harvard’s Lincoln Professor of History, described the new college in her 2004 paper. Radcliffe, she wrote, represented a “compromise between what women wanted and what Harvard would give them, as an alternative to the two prevailing models of coeducation and separate women’s institutions. Radcliffe College would educate women by contracting with individual Harvard faculty to provide instruction, would offer its own diplomas, to be countersigned by Harvard’s president, and would be subjected in academic matters to the supervision of ‘visitors’ from Harvard.”

Yet though women were making significant inroads, they were still set apart from Harvard, a separation that may have come with unseen costs, said Horowitz.

“What does it mean to a woman student that there are no female models?” she wondered.

“For better or worse,” said Horowitz, “professors are models, as well as inspirers.”

A more complex picture emerged Harvard’s graduate Schools. The Harvard Graduate School of Education was the first to admit women in 1920. Harvard Medical School accepted its first female enrollees in 1945 — though a woman first applied almost 100 years earlier, in 1847. Women began petitioning Harvard Law School for admittance in 1871. The School opened its doors in 1950, but that was 20 years behind most law schools in the country, said Horowitz.

The author and former Radcliffe fellow even offered her own experience with Harvard’s “complicated” approach to women. When she was denied acceptance to Harvard’s graduate program in history in 1962, she protested her rejection to Dean Kirby-Miller, the recently displaced dean of the Radcliffe Graduate School. Kirby-Miller agreed that she had been discriminated against, then promptly refused to take her case, telling Horowitz “she had lost two better ones in the last week.”

Horowitz ultimately received both her master’s and doctorate degrees from Harvard in American civilization in 1965 and 1969

In 1963, Harvard degrees were awarded to Radcliffe students for the first time. In 1967, Lamont Library allowed women access. In 1975, the two Colleges merged their admissions. In 1977, “a critical date,” Harvard’s ratio of four men to one woman ended with “sex-blind admissions.” In 1999, Radcliffe officially merged with Harvard, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study was born.

“Moving an institution towards equity turns out to be hard work,” said Horowitz. Harvard has made great progress, she said.

Of the 16 members of the Harvard Council of Deans, seven are women, and women also hold many other top administrative posts at the University, she said. While the faculty still strives for greater diversity, what’s important to remember, said Horowitz, is that the University has a “clear tenure track system” in place, which offers women a road in.

Still, other changes are needed if women are to be convinced to stay at Harvard, and other academic institutions, long enough to pursue tenure — specifically, changes in regards to starting a family and caregiving.

“To achieve equity requires that educational institutions provide women with a wide range of services and a flexible career clock, enabling the balance of working and caregiving. To be gender blind about this, is to be blind about the reality of many women’s lives.”

1852 Woman in a Carriage

Chevaux & Voitures. Phaeton a Caisse Fixe.  Published by W. Schaus, New York. 1852

The Norman Rockwell Museum tells us that before the end of the 19th century, proper women were typically relegated to the position of passengers in their conveyances–driving was done by servants, hired drivers, or one’s male escort. Horses were big and needed considerable physical strength to control. 

If a woman desired to drive her own horse-drawn carriage she was often accompanied by her servant sitting behind his mistress ready to assist her in a moment’s notice. As you can see in Mary Cassatt’s 1879 painting of a woman driving her carriage showing her servant seated at the back.

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) Woman and Child Driving, 1881
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Not until the end of the 19th century was it acceptable for women to drive their own carriages, which were typically designed to be lighter in weight and of a lower profile so that if unaccompanied a woman might alight without assistance and still have the strength to control the animal and vehicle.

Even with the advent of the automobile, there were similar discussions of a woman’s suitability with regards to handling a powerful auto. Montgomery Rollins in a 1909 article magazine wrote, “It’s no child’s play to run a motor car. No license should be granted to one under eighteen, and . . . never to a woman, unless, possibly, for a car driven by electric power.” Not suited to distance driving or high speeds, the electric car was considered safer for a woman because it was quieter, cleaner, and easier to operate. Not surprising, women did not necessarily seek only simplicity and ease—like men, some desire and desired power, speed, and control.

After the passage of the women’s voting rights amendment in 1920, American woman were on the cusp of a new age and even illustration showed their verve as they embraced the new era. The cover illustration for the January 1921 issue of American Automobile Digest shows an exuberant young woman driving her auto through the January 1st calendar page in celebration of her new freedom.

Women at Public Gatherings

Edward Lamson Henry (American genre artist, 1841–1919) The Pillory and Whipping Post, New Castle, Delaware

George Caleb Bingham (American genre painter, 1811-1879)  The Verdict of the People

George Caleb Bingham (American genre painter, 1811-1879) Martial Law

George Caleb Bingham (American genre painter, 1811-1879) Stump Speaking - No Women here!

George Caleb Bingham (American genre painter, 1811-1879) The County Election - No Women here!

Women & Children Plius a few Small boats...

BWilliam H Lippencott (American artist, 1849-1920)
Louis Lang (American artist, 1814–1893) Reminiscenes of Lake Mahopac New York Ladies Preparing for a Boat Race
Francis Coates Jones (American artist, 1857-1932) Women in a Rowboat
Edmund Charles Tarbell (American artist, 1862–1938) Study for Mother and Child in a Boat 1892

Frederick Childe Hassam (American artist, 1859-1935) The White Dory 1895

Winslow Homer (American artist, 1836-1910) Towing the Boat

Alfred Thompson Bricher (American painter, 1837-1908) ) The Artist's Wife in a Boat 1881 detail

Theodore Robinson (American artist, 1852-1896) Miss Motes and her Dog Shep, 1893

Alfred Thompson Bricher (American painter, 1837-1908) Drifting 1886

Jerome B. Thompson (American genre painter, 1814-1886) On the River 1867

Charles Courtney Curran (Amercian artist, 1861-1942)  Lotus Lilies

Women & Children at the Beach

Samuel S. Carr (American genre artist, 1837–1908)  Children on the Beach

Edward Lamson Henry (American genre artist, 1841–1919) East Hampton Beach

Winslow Homer (American artist, 1836-1910)  Beach Scene, Cullercoats

Samuel S. Carr (American genre artist, 1837–1908)  Beach Scene

Winslow Homer (American artist, 1836-1910)  Beach Scene

Samuel S. Carr (American genre artist, 1837–1908) Beach at Coney Island

Hannah Weinberger, the 1st female Winemaker in Napa Valley

Hannah Weinberger / Photo from the St. Helena Public Library

The Wine Enthusiast tells us that Napa’s modern wine industry began in the 1960s, but viticulture and winemaking were integral to the US economy before Prohibition. Women had worked growing grapes and making wine for centuries before Hannah Weinberger earned the distinction of becoming California’s first female winemaker during the 1880s.

Her husband John C. Weinberger was born in Weissenburg, Bavaria on July 13, 1830. He came to New York in 1848 and subsequently lived in Cincinnati and Indianapolis, becoming involved in farming. In 1870 he came to California and established a winery in the Napa Valley. 

Weinberger was murdered in 1882, after which operation of the winery continued under his second wife, Hannah.  John, was shot dead in March 1882. As a result, she assumed control of his winery and filled his role as director of the local Bank of St. Helena. In 1889, she crossed the Atlantic to appear at the World’s Fair in Paris as the only California female vintner to win a silver medal in the wine competitions.

Little is known about Hannah Weinberger’s early life or education. Hannah Elizabeth Rabbe was born on October 7, 1840 in New Albany, Indiana. She later lived in nearby Ohio where she was listed as Hannah Rabbe from Cincinnati, and where she married John Christian Weinberger in 1871. John, who was usually called J.C., had immigrated to the U.S. from Bavaria when he was 18 years old. Just before their marriage, JC had purchased the property in California.

JC and Hannah settled in the Napa Valley in what would become the town of  St. Helena. On their 240-acre estate, they built the J.C. Weinberger Winery in 1876. The town had recently grown significantly and that same year it was incorporated. In the 1870s hundreds of people settled in the area and started vineyards,  John was “murdered by a disgruntled fired employee who had been making unwanted advances to daughter Minnie,” The J.C. Weinberger Winery was said to have the first stone wine cellar in the area. The winery was capable of producing about 70,000 gallons of wine and it also produced grape syrup. Weinberger was one of the first to experiment with converting grape juice to syrup. 

After her husband’s death, Hannah took over leadership of the J.C. Weinberger Winery and also assumed her husband’s former role as director of the Bank of St. Helena.  At that time, land and business ownership were seen as almost exclusively male roles. Women still weren’t allowed to vote nationally  and were discouraged from holding professional responsibilities, let alone running or owning businesses. 

Nonetheless, Hannah took over the business and the winery flourished under her management. In 1889, production expanded to 100,000 gallons of wine and  5,000 gallons of brandy. That same year, Hannah traveled across the Atlantic to Paris for the 1889 Paris Exposition. There she entered a prestigious wine competition featuring competitors from many of the best French and other European vineyards. Hannah won a silver medal for her wine, making her the only California woman to do so. This award and the publicity that went with it helped to change minds within the world of wine regarding the value and quality of the burgeoning California wine industry.  An 1889 ledger from Wines and Vines of California, noted Hannah Weinberger, along with 17 other women, on their list of cellar masters and vineyardists.

Hannah continued to run her winery, until she was forced to shut down the business in 1920 at the dawn of Prohibition. The 18th Amendment to the U.S. constitution prevented the sale of alcohol, making the wine business somewhat obsolete. But the 19th Amendment gave women in the United States the right to vote nationally.  Hannah died on May 5, 1931. She was 90 years old. Hannah left an incredible legacy as someone who shaped Napa’s early wine industry. 

19C America - Religion

Pavel Petrovich Svinin (Russian-born American genre artist, 1787-1839)  A Philadelphia Anabaptis Immersion during a Storm

William Russell Birch (English artist, 1755-1834) High Street, with the First Presbyterian Church. City of Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania, North America, as it appeared in the Year 1800

Asher Brown Durand (American artist, 1796-1886) Sunday Morning 1839

Unknown Artist, Moravian Single Sister, ca. 1810-1820

Pavel Petrovich Svinin (Russian-born American genre artist, 1787-1839) ) Black Methodists Holding a Prayer Meeting

William Russell Birch (English artist, 1755-1834) Old Lutheran Church in Fifth Street, Philadelphia.

 John Eastman (American Painter, fl 1842-1880) Sunday Morning

Henry Bacon (American-born artist, 1839-1912) Pay Attention