The Organized Work of Women in One State

Abstract

WHEN MARY Wollenstonecraft shocked conservative England in 1792 with her Vindication of the Rights of Women, Rousseau in France with his ideas of social equality had already paved the way for the be? lief in the abstract rights of human beings, Tom Paine had stirred the world by championing the cause of individual freedom, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Ameri? can Declaration of Independence had established the rights of the individual. Naturally upon a world waking up to the rights of mankind, the legal and economic position of women became a burning question. This broadening of human sympathy, this emancipation from the tyranny of tradition opened up a new world to women who had suffered from the oppression of custom. Edu? cational opportunities were demanded and re? ceived by women who realized that knowledge is power. The opportunity came to them through the change in the world's point of view and they were not slow to grasp it. The world became a place of life and enjoyment for them, while be? fore it had been a place of retirement from all matters of public concern. Since the days of Mary Wollenstonecraft great changes have taken place and a woman has only to prove her ability to be recognized. Limitations of sex are no longer an insuperable barrier to progress. The one powerful agency through which a woman has been able to express her individuality is through the woman's club movement. It came into existence in America at the same time as the growth of the idea of individual freedom. As early as the 18th century women all over the country were in the habit of gathering to? gether for purposes of sewing and reading, as well as for attending to philanthropic and church affairs. But it was not until the 19th century that the woman's club movement was a recog? nized force.