The Long Road of Woman's MemoryWild rumors of a Devil Baby--a child who has miniature horns and a forked tail and appears in retribution for a husband's cruelty--at Hull-House brought a flood of curiosity-seekers to Jane Addams's door. To her surprise, many of the most adamant about seeing the Devil Baby were older, working-class, immigrant women. These women, usually rather withdrawn from the community, seemed to spring to life in response to this apocryphal story--and to be inspired to tell stories of their own. The tales they shared with Addams in the wake of the Devil Baby were more personal and revealing than any they had previously told her: stories of abusive mates, lost or neglectful children, and endless, ill-paid menial labor endured on behalf of loved ones. In response to these sometimes wrenching conversations, Addams wrote The Long Road of Woman's Memory, an extended musing on the role of memory and myth in women's lives. As Addams records the difficult recollections of these women she ponders the transformation of their experiences--so debilitating and full of anguish--into memories devoid of rancor and pain. She explores the catalytic function of cautionary tales in reviving older women's sense of agency. Through moving conversations with women who had lost sons on the battlefield, she emphasizes the importance of voicing a female perspective on war. The women's stories, graphically depicting the conditions in which they lived and labored and the purposefulness that sustained them, are gracefully woven together with Addams's insights on the functioning and purpose of memory. Seen in the context of Addams's personal connection with these diverse women and their stories, her larger efforts to bring about equity and social justice appear all the more courageous and vital. Charlene Haddock Seigfried's new introduction sets Addams's observations in the context of pragmatist and feminist traditions. |
Contents
Womens Memories Transmuting the Past as Illustrated by the Story of the Devil Baby | 7 |
Womens Memories Reacting on Life as Illustrated by the Story of the Devil Baby | 17 |
Womens Memories Disturbing Conventions | 29 |
Womens Memories Integrating Industry | 43 |
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Addams's Alice Hamilton American become beliefs bitter born brought brutality challenge chapter Charlene Haddock Seigfried Chicago child consciousness conventions conversation daugh daughter death Devil Baby domestic doubtless earned effort Egypt Egyptians emotion ence endurance experiences expression factory father Feminism Feminist girl gradually hard heart Hull-House human husband Illinois Press immigrants industrial inevitable injustices instinct Jane Addams Jo Ann Boydston John Dewey justice knowledge labor Liboucha living Long Road Memory's ment mind moral mother Movement nation nature never night obliged old women once organized Osiris Philosophy pragmatist premature birth primitive protect recall reminiscences responsible riences Road of Woman's romanticize Second Sex seemed sense Simone de Beauvoir Sisterhood Is Powerful social spirit spite story struggle talk tion tive told tombs Tommy tradition Transmuting the Past University Press visitors weeks woman Women's Memories words young