History/GWS 259: The History of American Women

FINAL EXAM Due 12/10

Fall 2020 / Professor L. Hudson

Using your readings and lecture notes from the second half of class, please answer ONE question from
Part A and ONE question from Part B. Please note that we are looking for answers that provide specific
examples from your readings to answer the question. Do not forgot to refer to specific laws, individuals,
movements, organizations, and other relevant information in your answer. Also, make sure to specify
time period and place. Each of your answers should be between 750 to 1000 words or 3-5 pages. You
may use parenthetical citations for quotations. All answers must be strictly your own.

PART A
Question #1
Danielle McGuire notes in the prologue to her book At the Dark End of the Street that the broad
coalition of supporters who rallied to support Joan Little in 1975 “reflected the enormous social,
political, and economic changes wrought by the civil rights movement and the women’s movement…”
(xxiii) What does she mean by that? What had changed between the attacks on Recy Taylor and Joan
Little? How had these movements changed the ways Taylor and Little were discussed and understood in
the media, courts, and society at large?

• What does she mean by that?

o Paraphrase the quote

Her supporters reflected The world that civil rights created.

o What is McGuire arguing?

That She was given assistance to a rising coalition brought together by the solidarity of the civil rights
movement.

• What had changed between the attacks on Recy Taylor and Joan Little? How had these movements
changed the ways Taylor and Little were discussed and understood in the media, courts, and society at
large?
o List 3 examples of changes that occurred by the time of Joan Little’s case. These
examples should reflect changes in how Black women (Taylor & Little) were discussed and
understood in the media, courts, and society at large?

-the civil rights movement

-wider understanding of the plight of African American women.
-the rise of mass television media.

PART B
Note: you must use at least three articles from “Women’s America” to answer the question. You may use
documents as well, but these do not count as one of your three articles.
Question #1
What are the most important changes in American women’s lives since World War II? In particular, what
ways did the war, the women’s movement, and the backlash shape women’s social, economic, and
political experiences in the United States?

List the three articles you will use (title, author, page numbers)
1. Ruth milkmann, gender at work
2. Daniel Horowitz, Betty Friedman and the origins of feminism
3. Michelle M. Nickerson, politically desperate housewives
• List three important changes in women’s lives that came as a result of WWII, The Women’s
Movement, or the backlash. It would be helpful to NOT have all your examples on one topic. Your
examples should include specific names, dates, and details.
-increase of women in the work force.
-cold war paranoia of change.
-the rise of feminists activism in suburbia