The Jackson Purchase Historical Society (JPHS) will meet on Saturday August 21 at 10:30 am at the Murray Woman’s Club, 704 Vine Street in Murray. Those attending should wear a face mask and maintain social distancing in compliance with current CDC guidelines. Our speaker will be Danielle Nielsen, who will speak on “Women’s Suffrage Organization Cookbooks.” The program will also be available by ZOOM. To register for the Zoom session: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlceqppjgsGtFlx9XxhNwO42avAEKXPP0s
The Society continues to monitor the regional public health situation and may make appropriate adjustments. For updates consult the Society webpage.
Dr. Nielsen is Associate Professor of English at Murray State University and Dean of the Commonwealth Honors Academy. She is a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University and has her PhD from Case Western Reserve University. Her presentation draws on her recent article, “Inventing a Space to Speak: Ethos, Agency and United States’ Woman Suffrage Cookbooks (1886-1916)” in Gender & History with a focus on Kentucky suffrage groups. These cookbooks created a rhetorical space and ethos within and through the kitchen. Because their activism was grounded in expected feminine actions, this home-bound ethos allowed the primarily white, middle-class suffragists to simultaneously advocate for women’s suffrage in public and maintain their adherence to the Cult of True Womanhood. The arguments put forth in the cookbooks illustrate an ethos that is influenced by both personal agency and women’s gendered, physical location in the kitchen. From this expected space, they made the more revolutionary argument for suffrage less discrediting.
“I am very happy that Danielle is able to share her research on women’s suffrage with us. Her approach is imaginative and offers a new perspective on this important social movement,” said JPHS President Bill Mulligan. “Danielle is a fine speaker and her research on this topic opens up a new perspective on both the suffrage movement and ideas about gender,” he concluded.
While the society has not been able to meet during the coronavirus situation it remains active. Our 2021 Journal will be mailed out to members shortly. Articles are welcome for the 2022 Journal and can be sent to the editor, Jim Humphreys, at jhumphreys@murraystate.edu. The editor would also welcome inquiries about topics, books for review, or offers to review a book. Copies of the Journal are available from the Jackson Purchase Historical Society, PO Box 531, Murray, KY 42071. The cost is $15.90 including postage and sales tax. Anyone interested in Jackson Purchase history is welcome to join the JPHS. Information about membership is available on the society’s website: https://jacksonpurchasehistoricalsociety.org/become-a-member/. Free electronic access to back issues of the Journal through 2016 are available through the Murray State University libraries is at href=https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/jphs/.
