What did women do in the 1900's?

Answer 1

In the early 1900s, women typically stayed at home and raised children. But society was beginning to change, and in certain states, women were being given the vote. One woman, Jeannette Rankin of Montana, even got elected to congress in 1917. There were also some women of the 1910s who were lawyers, doctors, and professors, but it was still most common for women to be wives and mothers-- in fact, a number of occupations (including teaching) demanded that women quit their job after they married.

During the first World War, a lot of women were employed by factories to continue the work that men had been doing. In 1918, when the war ended, women still wanted to work, and some of them did. The suffrage movement, which had been gradually gaining support, finally culminated in the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920. Once women could vote, a few more of them began to enter politics-- several states had women governors (Wyoming elected Nellie Tayloe Ross) and a few cities, including Seattle, had women mayors. The early 1920s also saw women entering the new field of radio broadcasting (there were women announcers as early as 1920 and the first woman to own a radio station did so in 1922). And more middle-class and upper-class women went to college. The society was still traditional in many ways, however, so despite having college degrees, most women were concentrated in fields like teaching or nursing or secretarial work. There were a few businesswomen and even a few airplane pilots-- Amelia Earhart was the best known, but there were others.

The late 1920s also saw a First Lady go on the radio-- President Herbert Hoover's wife Louise (who preferred to be called Lou) gave her first radio talks. In the 1930s, the role of the First Lady would continue to expand, with Eleanor Roosevelt having her own radio program. And President Roosevelt would hire a woman as Secretary of Labor-- Frances Perkins became the first woman in a president's cabinet. So, in the early 1900s, despite traditions that constrained women's career choices, you could find women in a wide range of occupations, from lawyers to mayors to scientists to radio executives (Bertha Brainard became the first woman executive at NBC).