Women in George Washington's World

George Washington lived in an age of revolutions, during which he faced political upheaval, war, economic change, and social shifts. These revolutions affected American women in profound ways, and the women Washington knew—personally, professionally, and politically—lived lives that reveal these multifaceted transformations. Although Washington often operated in male-dominated arenas, he participated in complex and meaningful relationships with women from across society.

A lively and accessibly written volume, Women in George Washington’s World highlights some of the women—Black and white, free and enslaved—whom Washington knew. Women who admired and memorialized him, women who provided him love and solace, women who frustrated him, and women who worked for or against him—all of these women are chronicled through their own experiences and identities. The essays, written by established and emerging historians of gender, reveal the lives of a diverse group of women, including plantation mistresses and enslaved workers, Loyalists and Patriots, poets and socialites, as well as mothers, wives, and sisters. Collectively, women emerge as strong actors during the American Revolution and its aftermath, not merely passive spectators or occasional participants. Although usually not on battlefields or in government offices, women made choices and acted in ways that affected their own, their families’, and sometimes even the nation’s future.

Contributors:James Basker, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History * George W. Boudreau, The McNeil Center * Charlene M. Boyer Lewis, Kalamazoo College * Ann Bay Goddin, independent scholar * Sara Georgini, Massachusetts Historical Society * Kate Haulman, American University * Cynthia A. Kierner, George Mason University * Lynn Price Robbins, independent scholar * Samantha Snyder, George Washington’s Mount Vernon * Mary V. Thompson, George Washington’s Mount Vernon

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Women in George Washington's World

George Washington lived in an age of revolutions, during which he faced political upheaval, war, economic change, and social shifts. These revolutions affected American women in profound ways, and the women Washington knew—personally, professionally, and politically—lived lives that reveal these multifaceted transformations. Although Washington often operated in male-dominated arenas, he participated in complex and meaningful relationships with women from across society.

A lively and accessibly written volume, Women in George Washington’s World highlights some of the women—Black and white, free and enslaved—whom Washington knew. Women who admired and memorialized him, women who provided him love and solace, women who frustrated him, and women who worked for or against him—all of these women are chronicled through their own experiences and identities. The essays, written by established and emerging historians of gender, reveal the lives of a diverse group of women, including plantation mistresses and enslaved workers, Loyalists and Patriots, poets and socialites, as well as mothers, wives, and sisters. Collectively, women emerge as strong actors during the American Revolution and its aftermath, not merely passive spectators or occasional participants. Although usually not on battlefields or in government offices, women made choices and acted in ways that affected their own, their families’, and sometimes even the nation’s future.

Contributors:James Basker, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History * George W. Boudreau, The McNeil Center * Charlene M. Boyer Lewis, Kalamazoo College * Ann Bay Goddin, independent scholar * Sara Georgini, Massachusetts Historical Society * Kate Haulman, American University * Cynthia A. Kierner, George Mason University * Lynn Price Robbins, independent scholar * Samantha Snyder, George Washington’s Mount Vernon * Mary V. Thompson, George Washington’s Mount Vernon

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Women in George Washington's World

Women in George Washington's World

Women in George Washington's World

Women in George Washington's World

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Overview

George Washington lived in an age of revolutions, during which he faced political upheaval, war, economic change, and social shifts. These revolutions affected American women in profound ways, and the women Washington knew—personally, professionally, and politically—lived lives that reveal these multifaceted transformations. Although Washington often operated in male-dominated arenas, he participated in complex and meaningful relationships with women from across society.

A lively and accessibly written volume, Women in George Washington’s World highlights some of the women—Black and white, free and enslaved—whom Washington knew. Women who admired and memorialized him, women who provided him love and solace, women who frustrated him, and women who worked for or against him—all of these women are chronicled through their own experiences and identities. The essays, written by established and emerging historians of gender, reveal the lives of a diverse group of women, including plantation mistresses and enslaved workers, Loyalists and Patriots, poets and socialites, as well as mothers, wives, and sisters. Collectively, women emerge as strong actors during the American Revolution and its aftermath, not merely passive spectators or occasional participants. Although usually not on battlefields or in government offices, women made choices and acted in ways that affected their own, their families’, and sometimes even the nation’s future.

Contributors:James Basker, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History * George W. Boudreau, The McNeil Center * Charlene M. Boyer Lewis, Kalamazoo College * Ann Bay Goddin, independent scholar * Sara Georgini, Massachusetts Historical Society * Kate Haulman, American University * Cynthia A. Kierner, George Mason University * Lynn Price Robbins, independent scholar * Samantha Snyder, George Washington’s Mount Vernon * Mary V. Thompson, George Washington’s Mount Vernon


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780813947457
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Publication date: 07/27/2022
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 264
File size: 3 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Charlene M. Boyer Lewis, Professor of History at Kalamazoo College, is author of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: An American Aristocrat in the Early Republic. George W. Boudreau, Senior Research Associate at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, is coeditor of A Material World: Culture, Society, and the Life of Things in Early Anglo-America and author of Independence: A Guide to Historic Philadelphia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. The Mother of the Father: Memorializing Mary Washington in Antebellum Virginia
2. "She Did Not Come Up to 'Ole Mistis' in Mammy's Eyes!": Relationships Between the Women, Enslaved, and Free
3. Service and Sacrifice: Martha Washington
4. "The Tender Heart of the Chief Could Not Support the Scene": General Washington, Margaret Arnold, and the Treason at West Point
5. George Washington and Phillis Wheatley: The Indispensable Man and the Poet Laureate of the American Revolution
6. Abigail Adams and the President's Portrait
7. "You are Welcome to Eat at Her Table": Elizabeth Willing Powel's World of Philadelphia
8. "I Had Friends among the Colored People of the Town": The Enslaved Women of the President's Household and Philadelphia's African American Commuinity
9. Invalid Juggernaut: Ann Pamela Cunningham and Her Quest to Save George Washington's Mount Vernon
Notes on Contributors
Index

What People are Saying About This

Barbara Oberg

This stunning collection of essays is a valuable study of George Washington and the women who inhabited his world. Based on the best work of contemporary historians and sound archival research, the book is also engagingly written. A substantial contribution to the field.

Lorri Glover

In this important, fresh collection, Charlene Boyer Lewis and George Boudreau bring together an exciting group of scholars researching a rich diversity of women connected to and influential on George Washington. The essays are crisply written and offer innovative historiographical interventions. The volume is a must-read for scholars studying women and gender in early America and for historians interested in cultivating a deeper and more diverse understanding of the American founding era.

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