Public Medievalists, Racism, and Suffrage in the American Women’s College (The New Middle Ages)

From the publisher's website: This study, part of growing interest in the study of nineteenth-century medievalism and Anglo-Saxonism, closely examines the intersections of race, class, and gender in the teaching of Anglo-Saxon in the American womens colleges before World War I, interrogating the ways that the positioning of Anglo-Saxon as the historical core of the collegiate English curriculum also silently perpetuated mythologies about Manifest Destiny, male superiority, and the primacy of northern European ancestry in United States culture at large. Analysis of college curricula and biographies of female professors demonstrates the ways that women used Anglo-Saxon as a means to professional opportunity and political expression, especially in the suffrage movement, even as that legitimacy and respectability was freighted with largely unarticulated assumptions of racist and sexist privilege. The study concludes by connecting this historical analysis with current charged discussions about the intersections of race, class, and gender on college campuses and throughout US culture. Acknowledgments 7 Contents 9 List of Figures and Table 10 Chapter 1: ``Anglo-Saxon ́ ́ in Late Nineteenth-Century American Academia 12 Chapter 2: Anglo-Saxon and Academic Opportunities for Women, Civil War-WWI 27 Chapter 3: Racism, Medievalism, and Anglo-Saxon 43 Chapter 4: Anglo-Saxonists as Public Medievalists 60 Appendices 83 Appendix 1: Curriculum Details from US Women ́s Colleges That Offered Anglo-Saxon Before WWI 83 Coordinate Colleges 83 Barnard College (Coordinate with Columbia University) 83 Cleveland College for Women (Coordinate with Adelbert College/Case Western) 84 Radcliffe College (Coordinate with Harvard University) 84 Randolph-Macon Women ́s College (Coordinate with Randolph-Macon College) 84 Sophie Newcomb Memorial College (Coordinate with Tulane University) 85 Independent Colleges 85 Bryn Mawr College 85 The Industrial Institute and College 85 Pennsylvania Female College 85 Smith College 85 Vassar College 86 Wellesley College 86 Wilson College 86 The Woman ́s College of Baltimore 86 Colleges That Grew Out of Seminaries, Institutes, or Academies 87 Agnes Scott Institute 87 Baptist Female University 87 The College of St Elizabeth 87 Converse College 88 Elmira Female College 88 Frederick Female Seminary 88 Georgia Female College 88 Georgia Female Seminary 89 Judson Female Institute 89 Mary Baldwin Seminary 89 Mills Seminary for Young Ladies 90 Mount Holyoke Seminary 90 Rockford Female Seminary 90 Spelman Seminary 90 Stephens Female College 90 Wells College 91 West Florida Seminary 92 Wheaton Seminary 92 Appendix 2: American Women Who Taught Anglo-Saxon at the Collegiate Level Before WWI 92 Faculty with No Degrees, Undergraduate or Graduate 92 Anne Kirtley 93 M.L. McKinney 93 Jennie C. Nixon 93 Irene Tisinger 93 Faculty with Bachelor ́s and/or Master ́s Degrees 94 Mary Botsford 94 Elizabeth Chapman 94 Hadgie Booker Davies 94 Elizabeth Eastman 94 Ida Josephine Everett 94 Isabel Harris 95 Heloise Hersey 95 Mary Augusta Jordan 95 Ella Adelaide Knapp 95 Mary K. Monroe 96 Pauline Orr 96 Faculty with the Ph.D. Focused on a Topic Other than Anglo-Saxon 97 Annie Heloise Abel 97 Martha Warren Beckwith 97 Elizabeth Deering Hanscom 97 Sister Mary Vincent Hillman 98 Laura Lockwood 98 Louise Pound 98 Edith Rickert 98 Mary Augusta Scott 99 M. Carey Thomas 99 American Women with the Ph.D. in English Focused on Anglo-Saxon 99 Helen Bartlett 99 Alma Blount 99 Mary Gwinn 100 Alice Dudek Halley 101 Martha Anstice Harris 101 Constance Pessels 101 Marguerite Sweet 102 Caroline Louisa White 103 Kathryne Janette Wilson 103 Ida Wood 103 Appendix 3: Translations by Anna Robertson Brown of Selections from Beowulf, Genesis B, The Dream of the Rood, The Phoenix, Th... 104 Anna Robertson Brown 104 Appendix 4: Selections from Mary Gwinn ́s Translation of Beowulf as well as the Full Text of A Ballad of Hart Hall, a 206-Line ... 123 Mary Gwinn (1861-1940) 123 Beowulf, ll. 26-53 132 Beowulf, ll. 1492-1569 132 Bibliography 145 Index 156 This Study, Part Of Growing Interest In The Study Of 19th-century Medievalism And Anglo-saxonism, Closely Examines The Intersections Of Race, Class, And Gender In The Teaching Of Anglo-saxon In The American Women's Colleges Before World War I, Interrogating The Ways That The Positioning Of Anglo-saxon As The Historical Core Of The Collegiate English Curriculum Also Silently Perpetuated Mythologies About Manifest Destiny, Male Superiority, And The Primacy Of Northern European Ancestry In United States Culture At Large. Analysis Of College Curricula And Biographies Of Female Professors Demonstrates The Ways That Women Used Anglo-saxon As A Means To Professional Opportunity And Political Expression, Especially In The Suffrage Movement, Even As That Legitimacy And Respectability Was Freighted With Largely Unarticulated Assumptions Of Racist And Sexist Privilege.--back Cover. Mary Dockray-miller. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 137-147) And Index. Front Matter ....Pages i-xii “Anglo-Saxon” in Late Nineteenth-Century American Academia (Mary Dockray-Miller)....Pages 1-15 Anglo-Saxon and Academic Opportunities for Women, Civil War-WWI (Mary Dockray-Miller)....Pages 17-32 Racism, Medievalism, and Anglo-Saxon (Mary Dockray-Miller)....Pages 33-49 Anglo-Saxonists as Public Medievalists (Mary Dockray-Miller)....Pages 51-73 Back Matter ....Pages 75-153