URI HIS 146 EXAM 2

Kennedy

(May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his work as president concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the U.S. Congress prior to becoming president.

Rosa Parks (1955)

- a woman who was arrested for refusing to give up her seat in a bus to a white man. Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has called her "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement"

Rosie the Riveter

A propaganda character designed to increase production of female workers in the factories. It became a rallying symbol for women to do their part.

JKF appoint 1960 commission to study position of women in US- Chair-

Eleanor Roosevelt

Birth Control Herbs

Herbs: savin, ergot, tansy, Seneca snakeroot, cotton root

ERA stalls

However, during the mid-1970s, a conservative backlash against feminism eroded support for the Equal Rights Amendment, which ultimately failed to achieve ratification by the a requisite 38, or three-fourths, of the states

Decade of the 1920s

The 1920s in the United States, called "roaring" because of the exuberant, freewheeling popular culture of the decade. The Roaring Twenties was a time when many people defied Prohibition, indulged in new styles of dancing and dressing, and rejected many traditional moral standards.

Paradox: race equality and gender equality

The gender-equality paradox is a phrase applied to a variety of claims, generally around gender differences being larger in more gender equal or wealthier countries.

Influenza

The last global pandemic in history that killed millions was that of _______ in 1918.

National Association of commission for women

​The mission of the National Association of Commissions for Women (NACW) is to sustain, strengthen and advocate for women's commissions in their work to promote equality and justice for all women and girls and ensure they are represented and empowered in their communities.

Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld (1975)

(1975), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which unanimously held that the gender-based distinction under 42 U.S.C. § 402(g) of the Social Security Act of 1935—which permitted widows but not widowers to collect special benefits while caring for minor children—violated the right to equal protection secured by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[1] A case in which the Court held that the gender-based distinction in Social Security benefits violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Revision of SS Act sex based legislation

Bella Abzug

(July 24, 1920 - March 31, 1998), nicknamed "Battling Bella", was an American lawyer, U.S. Representative, social activist and a leader in the women's movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm, and Betty Friedan to found the National Women's Political Caucus.[1] She was known as a leading figure in what came to be known as eco-feminism.[2] In 1970, Abzug's first campaign slogan was, "This woman's place is in the House—the House of Representatives."[3] She was later appointed to co-chair the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year created by President Gerald Ford's executive order, presided over the 1977 National Women's Conference, and led President Jimmy Carter's National Advisory Commission for Women.[4] Abzug was a founder of the Commission for Women's Equality of the American Jewish Congress.[5]

The National Labor Relations Act of 1935

A 1935 law, also known as the Wagner Act, that guarantees workers the right of collective bargaining sets down rules to protect unions and organizers, and created the National Labor Relations Board to regulate labor-managment relations. (also known as the Wagner Act) is a foundational statute of United States labor law that guarantees the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and take collective action such as strikes.

Abortion 1880-1930

First 50 years- abortion widely accepted practiced in private homes and doctor's offices

Ronald Wilson Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989 and became a highly influential voice of modern conservatism. Prior to his presidency, he was a Hollywood actor and union leader before serving as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975.

Brooklyn clinic 1916

Sanger's clinic opened on 16 October 1916 at 46 Amboy Street in Brooklyn. The clinic operated secretly in an old, run-down building during World War I in an area called Brownsville, a subsection of Brooklyn, which was home to many working-class immigrants. Sanger opened the clinic with her sister and fellow nurse, Ethel Byrne, and with the help of friend and bilingual Russian-English translator Fania Mindell. The area in which Sanger decided to open her clinic was home to many European immigrants, including many of eastern European and Russian descent. At the clinic, Sanger and her colleagues provided sexual education and birth control information to their clients. To avoid violating the Comstock Act, Sanger and her co-workers did not write anything down or hand out any informational pamphlets. When a woman walked into the clinic, she could ask Sanger and her colleagues questions about birth control and learn about birth control options. All communication was done verbally, and the clinic did not provide actual contraception to its clients, as that was also illegal. Sanger had attempted to recruit a doctor to work at the clinic but was unsuccessful in finding a volunteer since birth control was such a controversial subject at the time. The clinic advertised subtly to women in local newspapers and on posters throughout Brooklyn in English, Hebrew, Russian, and Italian without the explicit mention of birth control.

SS Act sex based legislation

Section 508 of the Social Security Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, disability, sex, or religion in the Maternal and Child Health Services

The Great Depression 1929- 1941

The Great Depression of the late 1920s and '30s remains the longest and most severe economic downturn in modern history. Lasting almost 10 years (from late 1929 until about 1939) and affecting nearly every country in the world, it was marked by steep declines in industrial production and in prices (deflation), mass unemployment, banking panics, and sharp increases in rates of poverty and homelessness. In the United States, where the effects of the depression were generally worst, between 1929 and 1933 industrial production fell nearly 47 percent, gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 30 percent, and unemployment reached more than 20 percent. By comparison, during the Great Recession of 2007-09, the second largest economic downturn in U.S. history, GDP declined by 4.3 percent, and unemployment reached slightly less than 10 percent. Causes: 1. The stock market crash of 1929. 2. Banking panics and monetary contraction. 3. The gold standard 4. Decreased international lending and tariffs.

World War I

(1914 - 1918) European war in which an alliance including Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States defeated the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

Margaret Sanger

American leader of the movement to legalize birth control during the early 1900's. As a nurse in the poor sections of New York City, she had seen the suffering caused by unwanted pregnancy. Founded the first birth control clinic in the U.S. and the American Birth Control League, which later became Planned Parenthood. Margaret Higgins Sanger was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control", opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established organizations that evolved into the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The stock market crash of 1929.

During the 1920s the U.S. stock market underwent a historic expansion. As stock prices rose to unprecedented levels, investing in the stock market came to be seen as an easy way to make money, and even people of ordinary means used much of their disposable income or even mortgaged their homes to buy stock. By the end of the decade hundreds of millions of shares were being carried on margin, meaning that their purchase price was financed with loans to be repaid with profits generated from ever-increasing share prices. Once prices began their inevitable decline in October 1929, millions of overextended shareholders fell into a panic and rushed to liquidate their holdings, exacerbating the decline and engendering further panic. Between September and November, stock prices fell 33 percent. The result was a profound psychological shock and a loss of confidence in the economy among both consumers and businesses. Accordingly, consumer spending, especially on durable goods, and business investment were drastically curtailed, leading to reduced industrial output and job losses, which further reduced spending and investment.

Family during 1930s

Having Fun - Family Life during the Great Depression. When they weren't working, families found time to have fun, with neighbors, friends, relatives and each other. With little money to spend on entertainment, families enjoyed new board games such as "Monopoly" and "Scrabble" which were first sold during the 1930s.

Comstock LAWS

In the United States, contraception had been legal throughout most of the 19th century, but in the 1870s the Comstock Act and various state Comstock laws outlawed the distribution of information about safe sex and contraception and the use of contraceptives.

Banking Crisis 1933

State banks declared holiday and in March, FDR called for a week long holiday while the banks began to restructure. Between 1930 and 1933, about 9,000 banks failed—4,000 in 1933 alone. By March 4, 1933, the banks in every state were either temporarily closed or operating under restrictions. On March 6, the day after his inauguration, President Franklin D.

Roe v. Wade 1973

The court legalized abortion by ruling that state laws could not restrict it during the first three months of pregnancy. Based on 4th Amendment rights of a person to be secure in their persons. Roe v. Wade was a landmark legal decision issued on January 22, 1973, in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute banning abortion, effectively legalizing the procedure across the United States. The court held that a woman's right to an abortion was implicit in the right to privacy protected by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Prior to Roe v. Wade, abortion had been illegal throughout much of the country since the late 19th century. Roe v. Wade has proved controversial, and Americans remain divided in their support for a woman's right to choose an abortion. Since the 1973 ruling, many states have imposed restrictions on abortion rights.

The Personal is political

The personal is political, also termed The private is political, is a political argument used as a rallying slogan of student movement and second-wave feminism from the late 1960s. It underscored the connections between personal experience and larger social and political structures.

Feminism- 1950s

Weak

Blending 4th. Wave-2012- present

is a feminist movement that began around 2012 and is characterized by a focus on the empowerment of women,[1] the use of internet tools,[2] and intersectionality.[3] The fourth wave seeks greater gender equality by focusing on gendered norms and marginalization of women in society. Intersectionality[3] and interlocking systems of power are emphasised, and how these contribute to the stratification of traditionally marginalized groups, such as women of colour and trans women. Fourth-wave feminists advocate (like earlier feminists) for greater representation of these groups in politics and business, and argue that society would be more equitable if policies and practices incorporated the perspectives of all people.[3] Fourth-wave feminism argues for equal pay for equal work and that the equal opportunities sought for girls and women should extend also to boys and men to overcome gender norms (for example by expressing emotions and feelings freely, expressing themselves physically as they wish, and to be engaged parents to their children).[4] The utilisation of print, news, and social media platforms to collaborate, mobilize, speak against abusers of power in seeking for the empowerment of women and seeking justice against assault and harassment is prominent.[5]

Little Rock Crisis 1957

1957 - Governor Faubus sent the Arkansas National Guard to prevent nine Black students from entering Little Rock Central High School. Eisenhower sent in U.S. paratroopers to ensure the students could attend class. The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas.

Labor Management Relations Act

A federal law, enacted in 1947 as an amendment to the NLRA, that prohibits requiring employees to join or continue membership in a union as a condition of employment. Also known as Taft-Hartley Act. The Fair labors standards act established workers a maximum 44 hours per week, and a federal minimum wage at 25 cents. It worked to abolish child labor and excluded women and minorities.

Women's Trade Union League

American organization, the first national association dedicated to organizing women workers. Founded in 1903, the WTUL proved remarkably successful in uniting women from all classes to work toward better, fairer working conditions. The organization relied largely upon the resources of its own members, never receiving more than token financial support from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) or other major organized labour groups. The organization achieved its greatest successes during the presidency of social reformer Margaret Dreier Robins. From 1907 to 1922, under Robins's leadership, the organization fought for an eight-hour workday, the establishment of a minimum wage, the end of night work for women, and the abolition of child labour. During the garment industry strikes of 1909-11, league members marched side by side with striking workers and helped set up strike funds. Some of the wealthier members boycotted the clothing manufacturers who refused to settle with strikers. Following the disastrous 1911 Triangle shirtwaist factory fire in New York City, league members conducted a four-year investigation of factory conditions that helped establish new regulations. dissolved 1947

World War II- US entry 1941-1945

American women were instrumental in the war effort during World War II. ... More than six million women took wartime jobs in factories, three million volunteered with the Red Cross, and over 200,000 served in the military.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was an American political figure, diplomat and activist. She served as the First Lady of the United States from March 4, 1933, to April 12, 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office, making her the longest-serving First Lady of the United States. FDR's Wife and New Deal supporter. Was a great supporter of civil rights and opposed the Jim Crow laws. She also worked for birth control and better conditions for working women.

Pauli Murray- Little Palace Cafeteria

Anna Paulina ("Pauli") Murray was a Civil Rights lawyer and religious leader. She spent her life fighting for equal rights against racial and gender oppression.[2] Murray experienced southern segregation firsthand in her middle school and high school years. When it came time for her to attend college she was turned rejected by Columbia because she was a woman and turned from Barnard College for being too poor. She was directed to enroll in Hunter College, a city school for women with free tuition, but to get into Hunter College, Murray had to relocate to New York and finish her high school years in New York City.[3] She enrolled in Hunter College in 1928 and graduated in 1933, one of only four black women in a class of 247 students. Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray Book by Rosalind Rosenberg

Betty Friedan- labor connection

Betty Friedan (/ˈfriːdən, friːˈdæn, frɪ-/[1][2][3][4][5] February 4, 1921 - February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the second wave of American feminism in the 20th century. In 1966, Friedan co-founded and was elected the first president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), which aimed to bring women "into the mainstream of American society now [in] fully equal partnership with men". In 1970, after stepping down as NOW's first president, Friedan organized the nationwide Women's Strike for Equality on August 26, the 50th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution granting women the right to vote. The national strike was successful beyond expectations in broadening the feminist movement; the march led by Friedan in New York City alone attracted over 50,000 people. In 1971, Friedan joined other leading feminists to establish the National Women's Political Caucus. Friedan was also a strong supporter of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution that passed the United States House of Representatives (by a vote of 354-24) and Senate (84-8) following intense pressure by women's groups led by NOW in the early 1970s. Following Congressional passage of the amendment, Friedan advocated for ratification of the amendment in the states and supported other women's rights reforms: she founded the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws but was later critical of the abortion-centered positions of many liberal feminists.

Banking panics and monetary contraction.

Between 1930 and 1932 the United States experienced four extended banking panics, during which large numbers of bank customers, fearful of their bank's solvency, simultaneously attempted to withdraw their deposits in cash. Ironically, the frequent effect of a banking panic is to bring about the very crisis that panicked customers aim to protect themselves against: even financially healthy banks can be ruined by a large panic. By 1933 one-fifth of the banks in existence in 1930 had failed, leading the new Franklin D. Roosevelt administration to declare a four-day "bank holiday" (later extended by three days), during which all of the country's banks remained closed until they could prove their solvency to government inspectors. The natural consequence of widespread bank failures was to decrease consumer spending and business investment, because there were fewer banks to lend money. There was also less money to lend, partly because people were hoarding it in the form of cash. According to some scholars, that problem was exacerbated by the Federal Reserve, which raised interest rates (further depressing lending) and deliberately reduced the money supply in the belief that doing so was necessary to maintain the gold standard (see below), by which the U.S. and many other countries had tied the value of their currencies to a fixed amount of gold. The reduced money supply in turn reduced prices, which further discouraged lending and investment (because people feared that future wages and profits would not be sufficient to cover loan payments).

Japanese America Women

By the time the war ended, nearly 500 Japanese American women had served the United States. When America entered World War II, the country had to raise large armies on both the Atlantic and Pacific fronts. The result was a manpower shortage, which required the military to turn to women for needed support.

Title VII

Civil Rights Act of 1964—forbids discrimination based on sex, race, color, national origin, or religion.

The pill

Combination birth control pills are a daily medication that contains 2 hormones (estrogen and progestin) to prevent pregnancy.

Communism/ Labor and Unions

Communist activists took a strong interest in American trade unions from the 1920s through the 1950s and played an important role in shaping the nature of the American union movement. Initial communist trade union activism drew upon radical labor traditions that preceded the formation of the American Communist Party (CPUSA). Early communist trade unionists experimented with different types of structures to organize unorganized workers. They also struggled with international communist factionalism. Communist trade unionists were most effective during the Great Depression and World War II. In those years, communist activists helped build the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and bring industrial unionism to previously unorganized workers. Throughout the history of communist involvement in the US labor movement, international communist policy guided general organizing strategies. Shifts in international policy, such as the announcement of a Soviet non-aggression pact with Germany, proved politically difficult to navigate on the local level. Yet, Left-led unions proved to be more democratically run and focused on racial and gender equality than many of those without communist influence. Their leadership supported social justice and militant action. The Cold War years witnessed CIO purges of Left-led unions and federal investigations and arrests of communist trade unionists. Repression from both within and without the labor movement as well as the CPUSA's own internal policy battles ultimately ended communist trade unionists' widespread influence on American trade unions.

Traditionalism/ Conservatism

Conservatives often support change but want make the changes carefully, observing the risks. Traditionalists adhere to ancient traditions, often flag, faith, family and hierarchies. If a country has been liberal for a long time, like Britain, conservatives often support liberalism but still want new liberal laws to be made carefully or gradually. Hence the word "liberal conservative". Traditionalists typically want to go back to golden traditions. Most conservatives want to move forward while avoiding worst risks.

Consumerism

Consumerism in the 1920's was the idea that Americans should continue to buy product and goods in outrageous numbers. People bought many quantities of products like automobiles, washing machines, sewing machines, and radios. This massive purchasing period led to installment plans.The factors that contributed to increased consumer spending in the 1920's was increased incomes and with the introduction of credit. ... Along with the increased consumer spending came personal debt that affect the nation. The increase led to overspending and poverty.

1960s- Shift to Militancy

Crucially, Black Power advocates, particularly more militant groups like the Black Panther Party, did not discount the use of violence, but embraced Malcolm X's challenge to pursue freedom, equality and justice "by any means necessary."

New Trends: Revolutionary or Not

Description Sweaters and skirts in wool and velveteen were popular for teenage girls in 1953. Younger girls wore dresses of chromespun acetate taffeta and nylon blouses. And, denim slacks with flannel lining and shirts were popular with girls of all ages.

Fashion/Flappers

Flappers did what society did not expect from young women. They danced to Jazz Age music, they smoked, they wore makeup, they spoke their own language, and they lived for the moment. Flapper fashion followed the lifestyle. Skirts became shorter to make dancing easier. With the help of the Flapper and Suffrage movement, women obtained more freedom and had more control over their lives. Women during this era began dancing, drinking, and smoking with men for the first time. People openly discussed subjects that their parents and grandparents had kept private.

1957 First Civil Rights Act

In 1957, President Eisenhower sent Congress a proposal for civil rights legislation. The result was the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. The new act established the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department and empowered federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against interference with the right to vote. It also established a federal Civil Rights Commission with authority to investigate discriminatory conditions and recommend corrective measures. The final act was weakened by Congress due to lack of support among the Democrats.

Civil Rights Act, 1964

In June 1963, President John Kennedy asked Congress for a comprehensive civil rights bill, induced by massive resistance to desegregation and the murder of Medgar Evers. After Kennedy's assassination in November, President Lyndon Johnson pressed hard, with the support of Roy Wilkins and Clarence Mitchell, to secure the bill's passage the following year. In 1964, Congress passed Public Law 88-352 (78 Stat. 241). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing. The Act prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs. It also strengthened the enforcement of voting rights and the desegregation of schools. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the nation's benchmark civil rights legislation, and it continues to resonate in America. Passage of the Act ended the application of "Jim Crow" laws, which had been upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the Court held that racial segregation purported to be "separate but equal" was constitutional. The Civil Rights Act was eventually expanded by Congress to strengthen enforcement of these fundamental civil rights. TITLE VII 7

Quickening

In pregnancy terms, quickening is the moment in pregnancy when the pregnant woman starts to feel her baby's movement in the uterus. The word "quick" originally meant "alive". Historically, quickening has sometimes been considered to be the beginning of the possession of "individual life" by the fetus. British legal scholar William Blackstone explained the subject of quickening in the eighteenth century, relative to feticide and abortion: Life... begins in contemplation of law as soon as an infant is able to stir in the mother's womb. For if a woman is quick with child, and by a potion, or otherwise, killeth it in her womb; or if any one beat her, whereby the child dieth in her body, and she is delivered of a dead child; this, though not murder, was by the ancient law homicide or manslaughter. But at present it is not looked upon in quite so atrocious a light, though it remains a very heinous misdemeanor.[5] Nevertheless, quickening was only one of several standards that were used historically to determine when the right to life attaches to a fetus. According to the "ancient law" mentioned by Blackstone, another standard was formation of the fetus, which occurs weeks before quickening. Henry de Bracton explained the ancient law, about five hundred years before Blackstone: If one strikes a pregnant woman or gives her poison in order to procure an abortion, if the fetus is already formed or quickened, especially if it is quickened, he commits homicide.[6]

Decreased international lending and tariffs.

In the late 1920s, while the U.S. economy was still expanding, lending by U.S. banks to foreign countries fell, partly because of relatively high U.S. interest rates. The drop-off contributed to contractionary effects in some borrower countries, particularly Germany, Argentina, and Brazil, whose economies entered a downturn even before the beginning of the Great Depression in the United States. Meanwhile, American agricultural interests, suffering because of overproduction and increased competition from European and other agricultural producers, lobbied Congress for passage of new tariffs on agricultural imports. Congress eventually adopted broad legislation, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act (1930), that imposed steep tariffs (averaging 20 percent) on a wide range of agricultural and industrial products. The legislation naturally provoked retaliatory measures by several other countries, the cumulative effect of which was declining output in several countries and a reduction in global trade.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (May 1954)

In this milestone decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. It signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the "separate but equal" principle set forth in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case. On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. This historic decision marked the end of the "separate but equal" precedent set by the Supreme Court nearly 60 years earlier in Plessy v. Ferguson and served as a catalyst for the expanding civil rights movement during the decade of the 1950s. Arguments were to be heard during the next term to determine just how the ruling would be imposed. Just over one year later, on May 31, 1955, Warren read the Court's unanimous decision, now referred to as Brown II, instructing the states to begin desegregation plans "with all deliberate speed." Despite two unanimous decisions and careful, if vague, wording, there was considerable resistance to the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. In addition to the obvious disapproving segregationists were some constitutional scholars who felt that the decision went against legal tradition by relying heavily on data supplied by social scientists rather than precedent or established law. Supporters of judicial restraint believed the Court had overstepped its constitutional powers by essentially writing new law. However, minority groups and members of the civil rights movement were buoyed by the Brown decision even without specific directions for implementation. Proponents of judicial activism believed the Supreme Court had appropriately used its position to adapt the basis of the Constitution to address new problems in new times. The Warren Court stayed this course for the next 15 years, deciding cases that significantly affected not only race relations, but also the administration of criminal justice, the operation of the political process, and the separation of church and state.

Katherine McCormick

Katharine Dexter McCormick was a U.S. suffragist, philanthropist and, after her husband's death, heir to a substantial part of the McCormick family fortune. She funded most of the research necessary to develop the first birth control pill.

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) 1938

Labor organization founded in the 1930s to represent workers in basic mass production industries. union organization of unskilled workers broke away from AFL in 1935 and rejoined in 1955. The Congress of Industrial Organizations was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Wikipedia Founded: November 1935, Pittsburgh, PA Merged into: AFL-CIO Ceased operations: December 4, 1955 Founders: John L. Lewis, Sidney Hillman

Women in the Military/ WACS/ WAVES/ SPARS/ WASP (Cochran)

Lesson Plan: Overview WACS, WAVES, & SPARS: Women during World War II Grade Level: High School Academic Standards Historical Background Materials Lesson Plans Reflections Assessment Examples Credit Academic Standards Standard USHC 8:The Student will demonstrate an understanding of the impact of World War II on United States' foreign and domestic policies. Indicator USHC 8.3 Summarize the impact of World War II and war mobilization on the home front, including war bond drives, rationing, the role of women and minorities in the workforce, and racial and ethnic tensions such as those caused by the internment of Japanese Americans . Social Studies Literacy Elements L. Interpret calendars, time lines, maps, charts, tables, graphs, flow charts, diagrams, photographs, paintings, cartoons, architectural drawings, documents, letters, censuses, and other artifacts. O. Consider multiple perspectives of documents and stories. Essential Questions: What roles did women play in the armed forces during World War II? What recruiting efforts motivated women to serve their country in this manner? Historical Background Notes They numbered little more than a thousand. And until the war they had been doing mostly what women of their era were expected to do. They were wives, mothers, waitresses, secretaries, librarians, dancers, socialites, and college students. And like their male counterparts, they had come of age during the Great Depression when jobs of almost any kind were few and very hard to get. But it was the early 1940's, the height of the Second World War, and women wanted to get involved in the struggle. Women were volunteering for military service. They served in the Women's Auxiliary Corps (WACS). They found jobs in the women's naval reserve as Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES). Women volunteered in an experimental army air corps program (WASPS) to see if women could serve as pilots for the military, to release male pilots for combat. Women were about to serve their country with the same courage, endurance and devotion to duty as their male counterparts in World War II. Patriotic women who wanted to serve their country in 1941 by establishing a women's auxiliary to the United States Army found friends in Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Congresswoman Rogers introduced a bill to establish a Women's Army Auxiliary Corps for service with the Army of the United States. With the backing of Mrs. Roosevelt and General George C. Marshall (not to mention an incident which occurred at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii), the bill passed.

Mary Dewson- Women's Division Head/ Democratic Party

Mary W. Dewon started her career in Massachusetts reform and suffrage circles. In the 1920s in New York she was a civic secretary of the Women's City Club of New York,[7][6][6][6][6][7][7][5][5][4][3][3] and the research secretary of the National Consumers' League. By 1929 Dewson knew all of the leading women reformers in the city. Because of Dewson's connections Eleanor Roosevelt recruited her into the Democratic political party. It was during this time that Dewson entered politics more personally, organizing Democratic women for Al Smith's presidential campaign at Eleanor Roosevelt's request. She performed a similar feat for Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1930 gubernatorial and 1932 presidential races. Because of her work on FDR's campaigns (and ER's intense lobbying), Dewson was appointed head of the Democratic National Committee's Women's Division (DNC). She reorganized the division to be utterly different. She found government jobs for female party workers, more than had been given to women under any previous administration. She is credited with securing the post of secretary of labor for Frances Perkins, and placing women high up in the Social Security and National Recovery Administrations. Even so, she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment. Despite this opposition, she began to push for state laws or state party rulings that would provide even representation in membership and leadership positions for women on party committees from the precinct level up. She created the Reporter Plan, which educated female party workers on New Deal programs so that they could explain them to voters. In the 1936 election, the women's division provided 90 percent of the campaign fliers the DNC produced. That same year she got a rule passed that provided for a member and an alternate for each state on the DNC Platform Committee; the rule also required that each pair be composed of one man and one woman. Because of Dewson's organizational skills, FDR nicknamed her "the little general."

Beauty Trade

Most makeup in the 1920s was limited to just a few shades that never matched natural skin tone. The initial look of women in makeup was ghastly! By the end of the twenties, there were 1300 brands and shades of face powder, 350 rouges, and a hundred red lipsticks. It was a 52 million dollar industry. Beauty in the 1920s featured an androgynous look for women. They wore bras that flattened their chest and wore clothing that gave them a curve-less look. Women even shortened their hair, leaving behind the long-held belief that long hair signified beauty and desirability.

NOW

National Organization of Women, 1966, Betty Friedan first president, wanted Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforce its legal mandate to end sex discrimination The National Organization for Women (NOW) was established by a group of feminists who were dedicated to actively challenging sex discrimination in society. With 500,000 members and 550 chapters in all 50 states, NOW is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States.

Laws enacted 1860- 1880

New view abortion: disregard quickening prohibited at any stage. Exception: therapeutic abortions if mother's life in danger

Social Security Act- 1935

On August 14, 1935, the Social Security Act established a system of old-age benefits for workers, benefits for victims of industrial accidents, unemployment insurance, aid for dependent mothers and children, the blind, and the physically handicapped. Before the 1930s, support for the elderly was a matter of local, state and family rather than a Federal concern (except for veterans' pensions). However, the widespread suffering caused by the Great Depression brought support for numerous proposals for a national old-age insurance system. On January 17, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a message to Congress asking for "social security" legislation. The same day, Senator Robert Wagner of New York and Representative David Lewis of Maryland introduced bills reflecting the administration's views. The resulting Senate and House bills encountered opposition from those who considered it a governmental invasion of the private sphere and from those who sought exemption from payroll taxes for employers who adopted government-approved pension plans. Eventually the bill passed both houses, and on August 15, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. The act created a uniquely American solution to the problem of old-age pensions. Unlike many European nations, U.S. social security "insurance" was supported from "contributions" in the form of taxes on individuals' wages and employers' payrolls rather than directly from Government funds. The act also provided funds to assist children, the blind, and the unemployed; to institute vocational training programs; and provide family health programs. As a result, enactment of Social Security brought into existence complex administrative challenges. The Social Security Act authorized the Social Security Board to register citizens for benefits, to administer the contributions received by the Federal Government, and to send payments to recipients. Prior to Social Security, the elderly routinely faced the prospect of poverty upon retirement. For the most part, that fear has now dissipated.

Max./Min. wage standards for men and women

On Saturday, June 25, 1938, to avoid pocket vetoes 9 days after Congress had adjourned, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed 121 bills. Among these bills was a landmark law in the Nation's social and economic development -- Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). Against a history of judicial opposition, the depression-born FLSA had survived, not unscathed, more than a year of Congressional altercation. In its final form, the act applied to industries whose combined employment represented only about one-fifth of the labor force. In these industries, it banned oppressive child labor and set the minimum hourly wage at 25 cents, and the maximum workweek at 44 hours.1

Recovery

Recovery was the effort in numerous programs to restore the economy to normal health. By most economic indicators, this was achieved by 1937—except for unemployment, which remained stubbornly high until World War II began. Recovery was designed to help the economy bounce back from depression. Economic historians led by Price Fishback have examined the impact of New Deal spending on improving health conditions in the 114 largest cities, 1929-1937. They estimated that every additional $153,000 in relief spending (in 1935 dollars, or $1.95 million in the year 2000 dollars) was associated with a reduction of one infant death, one suicide, and 2.4 deaths from infectious disease.[64][65]

Reform

Reform was based on the assumption that the depression was caused by the inherent instability of the market and that government intervention was necessary to rationalize and stabilize the economy and to balance the interests of farmers, business and labor. Reforms targeted the causes of the depression and sought to prevent a crisis like it from happening again. In other words, financially rebuilding the U.S. while ensuring not to repeat history.

Relief

Relief was the immediate effort to help the one-third of the population that was hardest hit by the depression. Relief was also aimed at providing temporary help to suffering and unemployed Americans. Local and state budgets were sharply reduced because of falling tax revenue, but New Deal relief programs were used not just to hire the unemployed but also to build needed schools, municipal buildings, waterworks, sewers, streets, and parks according to local specifications. While the regular Army and Navy budgets were reduced, Roosevelt juggled relief funds to provide for their claimed needs. All of the CCC camps were directed by army officers, whose salaries came from the relief budget. The PWA built numerous warships, including two aircraft carriers; the money came from the PWA agency. PWA also built warplanes, while the WPA built military bases and airfields.[

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud believed that each stage of a child's development beginning at birth is directly related to specific needs and demands, each based on a particular body part and all rooted in a sexual base. Freud offered dynamic and psychosocial explanations for human behavior. Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. Freud was born to Galician Jewish parents in the Moravian town of Freiberg, in the Austrian Empire.

Post War/ 1950s- Characteristics

So, the stereotypical nuclear family of the 1950s consisted of an economically stable family made up of a father, mother, and two or three children. Children were precious assets and the center of the family. Very few wives worked, and even if they had to work, it was combined with their role as housewives and mothers. The music of the day, especially rock and roll, reflected their desire to rebel against adult authority. Other forms of 1950s popular culture, such as movies and television, sought to entertain, while reinforcing values such as religious faith, patriotism, and conformity to societal norms. Cultural: emphasis domesticity Motherhood/Marriage

Jo Ann Robinson

Soon after arriving in Montgomery, Robinson was verbally attacked by a public bus driver for sitting in the "whites only" section of the bus. When she became the WPC's president the following year, she made desegregating the city's buses one of the organization's top priorities. The WPC repeatedly complained to the Montgomery city leaders about unfair seating practices and abusive driver conduct. But the group's concerns were dismissed, leading Robinson to begin laying plans for a bus boycott by the city's African American community. Following Rosa Park's arrest in December 1955 for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person, Robinson and a few associates jumped into action. They copied tens of thousands of leaflets and distributed them across the city, calling for a one-day boycott. Montgomery bus boycott-

American Birth Control League 1921

The American Birth Control League was founded by Margaret Sanger in 1921 at the First American Birth Control Conference in New York City. The organization promoted the founding of birth control clinics and encouraged women to control their own fertility.

1964- Civil Rights Act

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and later sexual orientation and gender identity.[a][4] It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination. The act "remains one of the most significant legislative achievements in American history".[5] Initially, powers given to enforce the act were weak, but these were supplemented during later years. Congress asserted its authority to legislate under several different parts of the United States Constitution, principally its power to regulate interstate commerce under Article One (section 8), its duty to guarantee all citizens equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment, and its duty to protect voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment. The legislation had been proposed by President John F. Kennedy in June 1963, but it was opposed by filibuster in the Senate. After Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the bill forward. The United States House of Representatives passed the bill on February 10, 1964, and after a 54-day filibuster, it passed the United States Senate on June 19, 1964. The final vote was 290-130 in the House of Representatives and 73-27 in the Senate.[6] After the House agreed to a subsequent Senate amendment, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Johnson at the White House on July 2, 1964.

Spock baby book

The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care is a book by American pediatrician Benjamin Spock and one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling 500,000 copies in the six months after its initial publication in 1946 and 50 million by the time of Spock's death in 1998. Wikipedia Originally published: July 14, 1946 Author: Benjamin Spock Pages: 527 (1st edition)

Equal Pay Act of 1963

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a United States labor law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex. It was signed into law on June 10, 1963, by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program.

Feminine Mystique- 1963

The Feminine Mystique is a book by Betty Friedan that is widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States.[2] It was published on February 19, 1963 by W. W. Norton. In 1957, Friedan was asked to conduct a survey of her former Smith College classmates for their 15th anniversary reunion; the results, in which she found that many of them were unhappy with their lives as housewives, prompted her to begin research for The Feminine Mystique, conducting interviews with other suburban housewives, as well as researching psychology, media, and advertising. She originally intended to create an article on the topic, not a book, but no magazine would publish her article.[3][4] During 1964, The Feminine Mystique became a bestselling nonfiction book with over one million copies sold.[5][6] In the book, Friedan challenged the widely shared belief in the 1950s that "fulfillment as a woman had only one definition for American women after 1949—the housewife-mother."[6] The phrase "feminine mystique" was created by Friedan to show the assumptions that women would be fulfilled from their housework, marriage, sexual lives, and children. It was said that women, who were actually feminine, should not have wanted to work, get an education, or have political opinions. Friedan wanted to prove that women were unsatisfied but could not voice their feelings.[

Franklin D. Roosevelt/ New Deal Legislation

The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs and agencies included the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Farm Security Administration (FSA), the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). and the 3 "r"

New Deal Reforms

The New Deal was responsible for some powerful and important accomplishments. It put people back to work. It saved capitalism. It restored faith in the American economic system, while at the same time it revived a sense of hope in the American people. relief for the unemployed and poor, recovery of the economy back to normal levels, and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression.

White House Conference on the Emergency Needs of Women - 1933

The She-She-She Camps were camps for unemployed women that were organized by Eleanor Roosevelt (ER) in the United States as a counterpart to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) programs designed for unemployed men. ER found that the men-only focus of the CCC program left out young women who were willing to work in conservation and forestry and to sign up for the six-month programs living away from family and close support. She lobbied for a sister organization to the CCC that would be for young women. Eleanor Roosevelt proposed that this would consist of camps for jobless women and residential worker schools. The She-She-She camps were funded by presidential order in 1933. Labor Secretary Frances Perkins championed one such camp after ER held a White House Conference for Unemployed Women on April 30, 1934, and subsequently ER's concept of a nationwide jobless women's camp was achieved. While the public largely supported the New Deal programs and the CCC was a huge success, the women's version barely topped 5,000 women annually by 1936 and overall served 8,500 as a result of ER's support.[1]

Social Security Act- 1935 Domestic/ Agricultural exclude

The Social Security Act of 1935 excluded from coverage about half the workers in the American economy. Among the excluded groups were agricultural and domestic workers—a large percentage of whom were African Americans. This has led some scholars to conclude that policymakers in 1935 deliberately excluded African Americans from the Social Security system because of prevailing racial biases during that period. This article examines both the logic of this thesis and the available empirical evidence on the origins of the coverage exclusions. The author concludes that the racial-bias thesis is both conceptually flawed and unsupported by the existing empirical evidence. The exclusion of agricultural and domestic workers from the early program was due to considerations of administrative feasibility involving tax-collection procedures. The author finds no evidence of any other policy motive involving racial bias.

WPA- 1935

The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency, employing millions of job-seekers (mostly unskilled men) to carry out public works projects,[1] including the construction of public buildings and roads. It was established on May 6, 1935, by presidential order, as a key part of the Second New Deal. The WPA's initial appropriation in 1935 was for $4.9 billion (about 6.7 percent of the 1935 GDP).[2] Headed by Harry Hopkins, the WPA provided paid jobs to the unemployed during the Great Depression in the United States, while building up the nation's public infrastructure, such as parks, schools and roads. Most of the jobs were in construction, building more than 1,000,000 kilometres (620,000 mi) of streets and over 10,000 bridges, in addition to many airports and much housing. The largest single project of the WPA was the Tennessee Valley Authority. At its peak in 1938, it provided paid jobs for three million unemployed men and women, as well as youth in a separate division, the National Youth Administration. Between 1935 and 1943, the WPA employed 8.5 million people.[3] Hourly wages were typically set to the prevailing wages in each area.[4]:70 Full employment, which was reached in 1942 and emerged as a long-term national goal around 1944, was not the goal of the WPA; rather, it tried to provide one paid job for all families in which the breadwinner suffered long-term unemployment.[5]:64, 184 Employed some 350,000 women.

The gold standard

Whatever its effects on the money supply in the United States, the gold standard unquestionably played a role in the spread of the Great Depression from the United States to other countries. As the United States experienced declining output and deflation, it tended to run a trade surplus with other countries because Americans were buying fewer imported goods, while American exports were relatively cheap. Such imbalances gave rise to significant foreign gold outflows to the United States, which in turn threatened to devalue the currencies of the countries whose gold reserves had been depleted. Accordingly, foreign central banks attempted to counteract the trade imbalance by raising their interest rates, which had the effect of reducing output and prices and increasing unemployment in their countries. The resulting international economic decline, especially in Europe, was nearly as bad as that in the United States.

Drought

When the national economy went into decline in the late 1920s because of the Great Depression, agriculture was even more adversely affected. In addition, a record wheat crop in 1931 sent crop prices even lower. These lower prices meant that farmers needed to cultivate more acreage, including poorer farmlands, or change crop varieties to produce enough grain to meet their required equipment and farm payments. When drought began in the early 1930s, it worsened these poor economic conditions. The depression and drought hit farmers on the Great Plains the hardest. Many of these farmers were forced to seek government assistance. A 1937 bulletin by the Works Progress Administration reported that 21% of all rural families in the Great Plains were receiving federal emergency relief (Link et al., 1937). However, even with government help, many farmers could not maintain their operations and were forced to leave their land. Some voluntarily deeded their farms to creditors, others faced foreclosure by banks, and still others had to leave temporarily to search for work to provide for their families. In fact, at the peak of farm transfers in 1933-34, nearly 1 in 10 farms changed possession, with half of those being involuntary (from a combination of the depression and drought).

Women Strike for Peace v. House Committee on Un-American Activities

Women Strike for Peace played a crucial role in bringing down the House Un-American Activities Committee(HUAC). From the beginning of the WSP in 1961 the FBI had the group under surveillance due to fear that communism had spread to the mothers of America. Abbreviation: WSP Affiliations: Women's International League for ... Formation: 1961

Fair Labor Standards- 1938

act that officially ended child labor, set a minimum wage, and set a maximum for the number of hours a person could work per week. is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits employment of minors in "oppressive child labor". Reaffirm max hour/min wage legislation End special protection legislation for women Women's Trade Union League

Abortion 1940- 1973

increasing restrictions on abortion state by state and by medical authorities. Movement to legalize: begin mid 1950s- physicians begin to challenge law. New feminism lobby for change

Advent of 3rd. Wave- 1990s

is an iteration of the feminist movement. It began in the United States[2] in the early 1990s and continued until the rise of the fourth wave in the 2010s.[3][4] Born in the 1960s and 1970s as members of Generation X and grounded in the civil-rights advances of the second wave, third-wave feminists embraced individualism and diversity and sought to redefine what it meant to be a feminist.[2][5][6] The third wave saw the emergence of new feminist currents and theories, such as intersectionality, sex positivity, vegetarian ecofeminism, transfeminism, and postmodern feminism. According to feminist scholar Elizabeth Evans, the "confusion surrounding what constitutes third-wave feminism is in some respects its defining feature."[7] The third wave is traced to the emergence of the riot grrrl feminist punk subculture in Olympia, Washington, in the early 1990s,[a] and to Anita Hill's televised testimony in 1991—to an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee—that Clarence Thomas, nominated for and eventually confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States, had sexually harassed her. The term third wave is credited to Rebecca Walker, who responded to Thomas's appointment to the Supreme Court with an article in Ms. magazine, "Becoming the Third Wave" (1992).[9][1][6] She wrote: So I write this as a plea to all women, especially women of my generation: Let Thomas' confirmation serve to remind you, as it did me, that the fight is far from over. Let this dismissal of a woman's experience move you to anger. Turn that outrage into political power. Do not vote for them unless they work for us. Do not have sex with them, do not break bread with them, do not nurture them if they don't prioritize our freedom to control our bodies and our lives. I am not a post-feminism feminist. I am the Third Wave.[10][1]

Sex Stereotyping

occurs when someone has a preconceived idea about how someone should be, act, or behave on the basis of that person's sex

1963- Equal Pay Act

outlawed gender-based wage discrimination and requires employers to pay women and men the same wages for the same work. The Equal Pay Act, signed in to law by President John F. Kennedy on June 10, 1963, was one of the first federal anti-discrimination laws that addressed wage differences based on gender. The Act made it illegal to pay men and women working in the same place different salaries for similar work. World War II Employment Poster P.G. Harris, US Employment Service War Manpower Commission, 1942-1945 During the first decades of the 20th century, women made up less 24% of the U.S. workforce. During World War II, however, labor shortages brought large numbers of women in to the workplace and by 1945, women made up 37% of the civilian workforce. Because women had traditionally earned less than men for doing similar work, male workers feared that this growing source of cheap labor would replace them or lower their wages. As men began to join the military and women began to take over their civilian jobs, unions started to advocate for equal pay. They felt that this would prevent employers from undercutting future wages for men. In addition, the National War Labor Board endorsed the idea of equal pay for equal work. They issued a General Order supporting equal pay for men and women for work that was of "comparable quality and quantity.

Abortion 1930s-

still available- change- moved from private home bdoctor's offices to hospitals & clinics.

Social Media #Metoo

t can be defined as a social movement against sexual violence and sexual assault that advocates for females who survived sexual violence to speak out about their experience. Burke, who is creating a documentary titled Me Too, has said she was inspired to use the phrase after being unable to respond to a 13-year-old girl who confided to her that she had been sexually assaulted. Burke said she later wished she had simply told the girl: "Me too".

National Industrial Recovery Act- 1933

was a US labor law and consumer law passed by the 73rd US Congress to authorize the President to regulate industry for fair wages and prices that would stimulate economic recovery.[1] It also established a national public works program known as the Public Works Administration (PWA),

Houston Conference, 1977

was a four-day event during November 18-21, 1977, as organized by the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year. The conference drew around, 2,000 delegates along with 15,000-20,000 observers in Houston, Texas.[1][2] The United States Congress approved $5 million in public appropriations for both the state and national conferences as HR 9924, sponsored by Congresswoman Patsy Mink, which Ford signed into law.[3][4] In 1977 at the start of his presidency, President Jimmy Carter chose a new Commission and appointed Congresswoman Bella Abzug to head it. Numerous events were held over the next two years, culminating in the National Women's Conference.[5] The conference represents a turning point for the political history of second-wave feminism in the United States. A number of controversial issues, including abortion rights and sexual orientation, were flashpoints in the event's program. Historian Marjorie J. Spruill argues that the anti-feminists led by Phyllis Schlafly had a more successful follow-up. They moved the Republican Party to a more socially conservative position.[6] As the Reagan administration came into office in January 1981, much of the political support for the conference and its output, The Spirit of Houston, dissipated in national politics.

Women Strike for Peace (WSP)

was a women's peace activist group in the United States. In 1961, nearing the height of the Cold War, around 50,000 women marched in 60 cities around the United States to demonstrate against the testing of nuclear weapons. It was the largest national women's peace protest during the 20th century.[1] Another group action was led by Dagmar Wilson, when about 1,500 women gathered at the foot of the Washington Monument while President John F. Kennedy watched from the White House. The protest helped "push the United States and the Soviet Union into signing a nuclear test-ban treaty two years later".[1][2] Due to the time period the group's leaders had been raised, between the First-wave feminism and the Second-wave feminism movements, their actions and pleas leaned towards female self-sacrifice rather than towards their self-interests.[3] However, they pushed the power of a concerned mother to the forefront of American politics, transforming the mother from a "passive victim of war to active fighter for peace".[3]

1872 committee for the suppression of Vice in NYC

was an institution dedicated to supervising the morality of the public, founded in 1873. Its specific mission was to monitor compliance with state laws and work with the courts and district attorneys in bringing offenders to justice. It and its members also pushed for additional laws against perceived immoral conduct. While the NYSSV is better remembered for its opposition to literary works, it also closely monitored the newsstands, commonly found on city sidewalks and in transportation terminals, which sold the popular newspapers and periodicals of the day. The NYSSV was founded by Anthony Comstock and his supporters in the Young Men's Christian Association. It was chartered by the New York state legislature, which granted its agents powers of search, seizure and arrest, and awarded the society 50% of all fines levied in resulting cases.[1] After his death in 1915, Comstock was succeeded by John S. Sumner.[2] In 1947, the organization's name was changed to the Society to Maintain Public Decency.[3] After Sumner's retirement in 1950, the organization was dissolved. The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice is not to be confused with its namesake, the earlier, 19th-century Society for the Suppression of Vice.

Comstock- postal service

were a set of federal acts passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration along with related state laws.[1] The "parent" act (Sect. 211) was passed on March 3, 1873, as the Act for the "Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use". This Act criminalized usage of the U.S. Postal Service to send any of the following items:[2] obscenity contraceptives abortifacients sex toys personal letters with any sexual content or information or any information regarding the above items. A similar federal act (Sect. 245) of 1909[3] applied to delivery by interstate "express" or any other common carrier (such as railroad, instead of delivery by the U.S. Post Office). In Washington, D.C., where the federal government had direct jurisdiction, another Comstock act (Sect. 312) also made it illegal (punishable by up to 5 years at hard labor), to sell, lend, or give away any "obscene" publication, or article used for contraception or abortion.[4] Section 305 of the Tariff Act of 1922 forbade the importation of any contraceptive information or means.[5] In addition to these federal laws, about half of the states enacted laws related to the federal Comstock laws. These state laws are considered by Dennett[1] to also be "Comstock laws".