Many of the letters that I found in this collection will help me with this task. What I find particularly interesting is the dissonance of the values seen the letters that Haldeman received from various girls' schools and the letter she received from her mother. The letters from the different schools expounded on the way the girls learned how to cook, iron, sew, decorate, etc. All of these letters seemed to be giving Haldeman advice for how to structure the curriculum of her own school. The values seen here seem to vary drastically from the values seen in the letter from her mother. Mrs. Addams praised Haldeman for the way she raised her daughter, Marcet. However, this praise did not come for Marcet's housekeeping abilities but more for her intelligence-- as seen with the compliments Addams gives concerning the girl's letter writing skills.
Major questions I would like to investigate: What do the letters from the school imply about what industrial education was? How do the values differ from Haldeman's values? How did Haldeman receive the suggestions for her school's curriculum? Based on the dissonance seen between the letters, what role did Haldeman play in regard to this education? What did industrial education mean to Haldeman?
In addition to the information I found in the letters, I would like to find the following things:
-More models of the different schools, perhaps including what happened with Haldeman's school and if Haldeman actually took the other schools' advice
-Information concerning Haldeman's role in society (especially as a banker) and how that might effect the way she intended to teach girls / her own daughter and what she believed "industrial education" was.
It seems like Haldeman believes "industrial education" to be more than just domestic skills, considering the education of her daughter (her daughter's good writing skills, etc.). If most of the letters she received from the girls' schools only discussed cooking, ironing, and other household skills, was Haldeman trying to make a statement and go against the common practices of the time by offering girls a real education, the type that men received? And was Haldeman respected for the changes she wanted to make, or were her ideas ridiculed by men? This all seems very interesting, and I think you'll make a good paper out of it!
ReplyDeleteMerey, I find this dissonance fascinating and genuine! I imagine you could learn more about turn-of-the-century "industrial" education by gathering some helpful secondary sources, but then it seems as if what you're really interested in is whether Haldeman aligned herself with these notions of "industrial" training or reinterpreted them in some way.
ReplyDeleteBut I also wonder what documents you might find within one of the other Haldeman MSS collections that could be of interest? (I believe these MSS collection descriptions are online ...)
Also, have you looked in any of the MSS collections related to education? If something looks interesting to you there, you can look up its fuller description in the card catalogues on the wall.
Here are some links to try as you pursue this exciting topic:
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/lilly/mss/subject/educatio.html
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/collections.shtml
Of all the questions listed in your "Major questions" paragraph, which one(s) seem to guide you the most? And then which ones might be subquestions underneath the larger ones?
-Dr. Graban
Over the past week, I've developed a more specific argument than the last time we had blog posts. The research I've been doing has been very interesting in helping me elaborate on the thesis I've started to develop.
ReplyDeleteThe main point that I've been working with are Sarah Haldeman's views in regard to industrial education for women. The apparent discord seen between the various correspondences Haldeman kept led me to ask how Sarah Haldeman viewed industrial education for women and how she reinterpreted this education to suit her values.
As I've already stated, the letters show a discord. On the one hand, letters from deans of school suggest that women at this time were expected to cook, clean, raise children, etc. A letter from Haldeman's mother suggests that Haldeman valued a richer education when raising her daughter, Marcet. It is important to understand Haldeman's values to see how she might have interpreted the idea of industrial education.
Today in the Lily, I read through a couple articles written in regard to banking concerning Sarah Haldeman and, later, her daughter. In one particular article focused on S. Haldeman, she is quoted to say that she does not see why banking wouldn't be suitable for women. She explains that she didn't know more than the average woman in regard to finances, but she gained a lot of knowledge through social experience. Perhaps this is the kind of industrial education Haldeman supports: less formal education and more personal, hand on experiences to train women in areas other than domestic work.
Merey, what a cool find. I don't know the full content of that article, but does it reflect a pragmatic formulation of education, i.e., experiential, less formal, etc.? It would be interesting to see if Jane Addams (or for that matter, Seigfried) characterizes pragmatism in a way seems to support how Haldeman understands it. Of course, I don't know for sure that she will ...
ReplyDelete-Dr. Graban