Moral Guardians in the Home and City

Moral Guardians in the Home and City

In the late nineteenth century, middle class women were responsible for maintaining safe homes and protecting children and husbands from immorality. As wives and mothers, women reformers also made it their duty to also make Chicago a safe and virtuous city. “The Practical Work of the Club” documents the CWC’s decision to reform and improve conditions for women and children in the city. The Annual Report of the Recording Secretary from 1891 illustrates how the Club asserted feminine morality and respectability as the justification for women’s active role in municipal and national politics.

“The Practical Work of the Club.” In the Annual Announcement of the Chicago Woman’s Club, 1886. Loyola University Chicago. Women & Leadership Archives Chicago Woman’s Club. Box 1, Folder 10.

Brown, Mary Spalding. “Annual Report of the Recording Secretary of the Chicago Woman’s Club Year Ending March 14, 1891.” In Chicago Woman’s Club Minutes, 1890 & 1891. Chicago History Museum. Chicago Woman’s Club Records, 1876-1998. Box 1, Folder 12.