Class Year
2025
Document Type
Student Research Paper
Date of Creation
Fall 2024
Department 1
History
Abstract
This essay is a case study of the experiences of Ethel Bird, a middle-class student at Beloit College at the turn of the twentieth century. Through an analysis of the first-person accounts of her college life, as reported in hundreds of letters sent to her parents, the essay will expand upon previous explorations of gender and postsecondary education to examine specifically the middle-class experience, as well as how this experience led to the entry of women into the workforce. Furthermore, it will examine how Bird’s college experiences fit into the broader history of women’s education in the United States, especially in the Midwest. Finally, the essay will place Bird’s letters into the broader context of college women in the Progressive Era of American history.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Morris, Bryn A., "Ethel Bird: A College Woman's Life and Legacy from 1901 to 1905" (2024). Student Publications. 1147.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/1147
Comments
Written for HIST 428: Letters and Letter-Writing.