MODERN MOTHERS IN HEARTLAND: GENDER, HEALTH, AND PROGRESS IN ILLINOIS

In the early twentieth century, ambitious social welfare campaigns linked the improvement of health to the broader aim of "modernizing" American life. Lowered mortality rates, especially among infants and young children, became for reformers a barometer by which to measure society's overall "progress." To date, most analyses of Progressive Era child welfare movements have concentrated on urban areas in the Northeast and the national leadership role played by the Children's Bureau. Modern mo...