Post-Research (blog #5)

After doing all of my research on the topic of women’s rights in the state of Wisconsin, I found some very interesting information and I learned a lot along the way. When I had first started doing research on my question “How did women’s rights evolve in the late 1800’s and into the 1900’s in the state of Wisconsin?” I didn’t know where to really start my search. I often times found myself punching the keyboard with words like “women’s movements in Wisconsin” which led me to more specific branches of where women’s rights turned. I came across a specific that really spiked my interest and really narrowed my search, which was the organization NOW (National Organization for Women). I found out all of the various ways that this organization alone shaped not only the state of Wisconsin concerning women’s rights but, more specifically, the city of Eau Claire as well.

I am now aware of what it took for women to feel like they belonged in the state of Wisconsin. It was no easy task to accomplish in feeling equality for all, it took determination, hard work, and good leaders to do such a hard thing. Although I know much more about this topic then when I first started doing my research, I always think that there is more to learn on any subject. I do not think that my question has been fully answered due to the fact that there are many different aspects to every topic of which only a small portion were addressed in my research. I do, however, think that I did partially answer my research question because I found a lot of credible information that was useful in my inquiry to this topic and taught me a lot that I hadn’t previously known. So after looking back, I do think that a great amount of progress was made along the way in my research journey, but more information is needed to answer my question to the fullest.

A Closer Look Into NOW (blog #4)

National_Organization_for_Women__NOW_-logo-736CC4C9A2-seeklogo_comThe third source that I found is a more in-depth look as to what I mentioned in my previous blog post, and that was the topic of the collection of Margo House Papers that I came across in the library archives at UWEC. Mentioned before was the basic concept of what those papers were about, and I merely introduced them to you. As I was taking a closer look into these papers, I found a folder that was designated to NOW (National Organization for Women) and all of the history of this organization in the city of Eau Claire, WI. I found one specific article in this folder that I found to be most interesting, which had to do with the progress of this organization, as well as to what they wanted to do in making small improvements to it. This source mentions “We have changed women: weather they are for or against us as an organization or a movement, they have a new self-confidence and they are doing more!” By informing us of what has changed in the city shows improvement and that the movements that I am curious about learning actually did some good.

My source uses the rhetorical term ethos well, because throughout this article they state how much has changed in the city, and that they want to continue to see the rights of women move in a positive direction; “We are destroying sexist employment “standards” arbitrarily imposed only on women that have been used to bar them from employment – such as having pre-school aged children – unless the standards are applied to men as well”. Showing that women really can make a difference in society is a positive thing that these women are feeding on and growing from to develop as an organization.

I fully believe that this source is credible because it is directly from the archives, and is a primary source. I found it very interesting knowing that women made so many changes to the world around them with just a little encouragement from a few people. This source strengthens my research question by informing us more about what exactly people went through back then to fight for their rights, but more importantly, where we ended up after it was all said and done. This specific source is very informative, however, does not provide a lot of information as to what the actual movement was like. I need to do some further research on the history of NOW in Eau Claire, and throughout Wisconsin as well.

By reading a variety of sources, my knowledge for this topic is growing, as well as my desire to know more about why things happened. If I could find a video or voice recording of women’s movements in Wisconsin that would be helpful and provide me with a new source as well as broaden my range of sources as well.

Margo House Papers (blog #3)

 

we can do itThe third source that I am writing about is one that was found in my very own library, right here at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on the 5th floor of the archival collections. This primary source is the collection of the Margo House Papers that describe how women’s rights, specifically in Eau Claire, WI, improved through the years 1973-1980. Margo House was born in August 1929 and grew up to get her bachelor’s degree in art and history. After school, she moved on to work for the board of Regents at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for four years, and following that she actually taught the subject of English at UWEC. During the 1970’s House was an active part in the rights of women in Wisconsin, and was even the president of the Wisconsin Feminist Project Fund, as well as the state coordinator for the National Organization for Women (NOW).

This primary source is very helpful because not only do these papers portray the evolution of what NOW is, it also gives local information about the organization which is very helpful in my individual inquiry. Having so much content in this source, it is hard to know exactly what to read, and what to leave out. I think that having the actual documents that Margo House contributed to really create emotion for those of us who live in the city of Eau Claire, WI, or may attend UWEC. This source strengthens the answer to my research question: “How did women’s rights evolve in the late 1800’s and the state of Wisconsin?” by creating localization not only for me, but for all of the women that do live, or have previously lived, in the beautiful city of Eau Claire.

Not only do the Margo House papers provide subsequent information on my topic, they also use the rhetorical term of kiaros, or timeliness. By being created in a time that, in every way, was very important in the shaping of women’s rights, makes this source worthy of taking a close look at. I think this source is a very reliable one because the papers in the collection were written during the timeframe of which I am concerned. This also builds credibility for Margo House because of the things she says in the papers regarding her involvement in various women’s groups focused on Eau Claire. However, this source is missing information for the rest of the state regarding the rights of women in society. After knowing information from the Margo House papers, I would like to know more about what organizations were involved in the equalization of women’s rights, whether they be state or locally based.

From reading all of my sources, I find it very intriguing to continue my search on this topic. I have learned so much, but there is still so much that I really would like to know too. Before diving into my research I never knew the history of women’s rights at all in the state of Wisconsin, and knowing more about why and when these rights were established really peaks my interest. I would, however, like to narrow my search to something deeper in this topic, which has not been noted at this time yet

National Organization for Women (blog #2)

 

The topic of my research is that of women’s rights in the state of Wisconsin, and just how those rights came to be what they are today. The source that I am introducing to you is the one of a newspaper form the year 1966 in which involves a woman by the name of Kathryn Clarenbach. Kathryn did a lot in her community to fight for the rights of women, and played a major role in the general history of the women’s rights movement. An organization titled The National Organization of Women (NOW) was a big movement that made women more independent and made them stand out. The leading of this organization was one of steps that Clarenbach took to make her name known to many during the time of making women equal in society.

This picture shows us  the symbol that was used to represent the National Organization for Women, which helped in creating equal rights for women.
This picture shows us the symbol that was used to represent the National Organization for Women, which helped in creating equal rights for women.

I am starting with this source, because it narrows my topic down to a specific organization, the NOW organization. I think that having a specific like this will help me to hone in on that one group, how they came to be, as well as what they did to actively make changes on the topic of women’s rights in society, and more specifically, the state of Wisconsin.

Not only does this source include a variety of information, but it also includes rhetorical terms of which I’m sure we are all familiar with. The author forms credibility in her work by including people in the article that are worth mentioning which makes her look like a well-educated woman. She also builds her credibility by using a variety of different examples throughout the article which provide evidence to the audience as well as builds her trustworthiness. Another rhetorical term that can be pointed out in this newspaper article, is the use of kiaros, or timeliness. This source is perfect for what I am using it for, it provides me with information during the times that I am looking to obtain more information, and it also proves to be accurate in providing information that was well sought after during that time.

This source, being a newspaper, is generally less opinion-based and more informational based. I really like the idea that this was written during the time that I am looking to learn more about. Although I like this part of it, I think that a lot has changed since the writing of this article. While wanting to know more about the whole history of women’s rights in the state of Wisconsin, it is important that I find information regarding various time frames. I think that knowing about how women’s rights evolved over time is interesting, but moreover, how they stand today and what has changed to make them how they stand? As you can see I still have a lot of research left to do, and this source is only one of many that I will surely come across.

 

 

Intro to Research Question (blog post #1)

research #1

The overall topic of my research project is the idea of general  women’s rights in the state of Wisconsin previous to now in time, which leads me to my research question. My research question is as follows: “How did women’s rights evolve in the late 1800’s and into the 1900’s in the state of Wisconsin”? I chose this research question because that is exactly where my inquiry leads me. I really would like to know more about how women became more powerful in the state of Wisconsin throughout the years that are closest to my time and era. With knowing fairly minimally about my topic, I am very interested in learning more about this topic in general, but the area of my question is where I am focused on the most. The reason that I do not know much about this topic is because in all of my years of life, as a student, I have never have come across material like this in a classroom setting, which has caused me to skip past something that is undoubtedly important to the history of creating Wisconsin. I look forward to knowing more about this topic as the process of my research focuses in on my question at hand.