| Description |
xiv, 391 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. |
| Series |
A Helen Hooven Santmyer prize winner
|
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (p. 373-378) and index. |
| Contents |
Introduction: Ladies' Delight -- I. Crosses and Losses. 1. "I Am Tired of All This Christianity": 1866-1897. 2. "Different from Anything We Ever Seen Before": On the Road, 1897-1898. 3. "As If It All Belonged to Me": From Belton to Washington, 1898-1899. 4. "The Time Has Come We Are Obliged to Go to Work": 1900-1983 -- II. Sunshine and Shadow. 5. "Simple Faith and Shrewd Common Sense": A Group Portrait. 6. Martha White McWhirter: "The Great Spartan Mother" 7. The Haymonds: Seduced and Abandoned. 8. The Henrys and the Schebles; Loyalty and Absence. 9. The Johnsons and the Pratts: Of Mind and Flesh -- III. Grape Vine. 10. Narrative and Community. 11. Community and the Dream Texts -- IV. Radical Rose. 12. "Objects of Special Care and Love": Intergenerational Relationships. 13. Conclusion: "Everything Is Shewn in Favor of Men" -- Appendix A: Commonwealth Membership -- Appendix B: Commonwealth Property. |
| Summary |
Sally Kitch's study tells the story of an unusual, all-female urban utopian community founded in the late nineteenth century in Belton, Texas. The Woman's Commonwealth combined an ideology of celibacy with traditional business practices to achieve women's economic independence. Based on a large collection of personal letters exchanged among the group's twenty to twenty-five members, primarily mothers and their daughters, the book functions on several levels. |
| Subject |
Woman's Commonwealth (Belton, Tex.)
|
|
Celibacy -- Case studies.
|
|
Collective settlements -- United States -- Case studies.
|
| ISBN |
0814205798 (alk. paper) |
|
9780814205792 (alk. paper) |
|
0814205828 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
|
9780814205822 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
|
