Women and Achievement in Nineteenth-Century Europe

This major new history of European women's professional activities and organizational roles during the 'long' nineteenth century examines what women could and could not do if they sought activity, purpose, or recognition beyond their own homes. Linda L. Clark surveys women's achievements in literature, art, music, theater, charity, education, medicine, law, and public administration, and examines the relationship between women's professional and philanthropic activity and the rise of feminist organizations. She shows that, despite continuing legal, cultural, and familial obstacles, thousands of ambitious women pursued professional activities for reasons that often combined economic need with aspirations to do meaningful work and gain public recognition. Detailing women's accomplishments from England to Russia, this unique survey enables readers to connect individual life stories with larger political, social, and economic contexts between 1789 and 1914 and is essential reading for students of modern European history, women's history, and gender studies.

Introduction: women and achievement, reality and rhetoric; 1. Women and the revolutionary era: negotiating public and private spaces, 1760s–early 1800s; 2. Women and literature: authorship, publication, audience; 3. Women and the arts: training, performance, fame; 4. Caring and power: from charity to social reform; 5. Extending education: learning and teaching; 6. From education to other professions; 7. Organizing for women's rights: leaders and supporters; Epilogue: looking beyond 1914; Further reading and reference works.

A major new history of European women's professional activities and organizational roles during the period 1789 to 1914. Detailing women's accomplishments from England to Russia, Linda L. Clark examines what women could and could not do if they sought activity, purpose, or recognition beyond their own homes.

Linda Clark is Professor of History, Emerita, Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Her previous publications include The Rise of Professional Women in France: Gender and Public Administration since 1830 (2000) and Social Darwinism in France (1983).