Property:Notes by the editor
From The Observatory
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''This is the second of three articles on the role of social movements in bringing about transformative change. Read the first, ‘Widening the We,’ [https://observatory.wiki/Widening_the_%E2%80%98We%E2%80%99 <u>here</u>].'' +
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A survivor’s perspective on what it was like to be on the ''Titanic'' as it sank, with detailed accountings of his and other passengers’ accounts. +
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Content warning: This article contains mentions of rape and suicide. +
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From [[wikipedia:Woman_in_the_Nineteenth_Century|Wikipedia]]:
:“''Woman in the Nineteenth Century'' is a book by American journalist, editor, and women’s rights advocate [[S. Margaret Fuller|Margaret Fuller]]. Originally published in July 1843 in [[wikipedia:The_Dial|The Dial]] magazine as ‘The Great Lawsuit. Man versus Men. Woman versus Women,’ it was later expanded and republished in book form in 1845.”
:“The basis for Fuller’s essay is the idea that man will rightfully inherit the earth when he becomes an elevated being, understanding of divine love. There have been periods in time when the world was more awake to this love, but people are sleeping now; however, everyone has the power to become enlightened. Man cannot now find perfection because he is still burdened with selfish desires, but Fuller is optimistic and says that we are on the verge of a new awakening. She claims that in the past man, like [[wikipedia:Orpheus|Orpheus]] for [[wikipedia:Eurydice|Eurydice]], has always called out for woman, but soon will come the time when women will call for men, when they will be equals and share divine love.” +
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From [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ten_Days_in_a_Mad-House Wikisource]:
:“''Ten Days in a Mad-House'' is a book written by newspaper reporter Nellie Bly and published by Norman Munro in New York City in 1887. The book comprised Blyʼs reportage for the New York World while on an undercover assignment in which she feigned insanity to investigate reports of brutality and neglect at the Womenʼs Lunatic Asylum on Blackwellʼs Island.”
The full text of this edition published by Norman L. Munro is available on [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ten_Days_in_a_Mad-House Wikisource at this link]. +
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In this memoir, Frederick Douglass chronicles life as an enslaved boy in the American South, his eventual escape, and his new beginnings as a free man and abolitionist.
''Note: This historical memoir may include outdated and offensive language.'' +
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Little is known about American cookbook author Susanna Shanklin Browne, but her motives for writing ''The Plain Sailing Cook Book'' are clearly stated in the preface; her inspiration was to write what she believed in 1922 was the first cookbook “successfully adapted to the needs of the person who has never before attempted to cook.” The contents include “the simpler every-day dishes that make up the staple menu of the average American family.” The book’s stated “aim is to provide ‘plain sailing’ for the wholly inexperienced mariner in culinary waters.”
The author expresses empathy for beginner cooks and explains recipes “in such a way as to leave no possible room for doubt or misunderstanding on any point.” “In preparing and arranging each recipe,” she continues, “I have tried to keep continually in mind the person who has never before cooked anything.”
“I have tried to leave nothing to the imagination, nothing to be guessed at, nothing to be decided from previous experience. In a word, I have tried to do as I would be done by, if I were the user of the book instead of the author,” she concludes.
'''Note:''' A product of its time, ''The Plain Sailing Cook Book'' assumes the reader is “[[Classics:The Plain Sailing Cook Book/Introduction/Equipment and Supplies|the average housewife]]” [[Classics:The Plain Sailing Cook Book/Preface|cooking for two]]. But recipes may be multiplied for larger families, and beginner cooks of all genders and marital statuses will benefit from these basic lessons in cooking. +
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The famous novel about government and business corruption in the early 20th century by muckraker author Upton Sinclair.
From [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Jungle_(Sinclair,_1906) Wikisource]:
:“''The Jungle'' is a 1906 novel written by author and socialist journalist Upton Sinclair. It was written about the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century. The novel depicts in harsh tones the poverty, absence of social programs, unpleasant living and working conditions, and hopelessness prevalent among the ‘have-nots,’ which is contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption on the part of the ‘haves.’” +
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This 1847 memoir was written by prominent activist and writer William Wells Brown to support the abolitionist movement. It chronicles Brown’s cruel treatment as an enslaved man, the horrors that he witnessed, and his multiple escape attempts for freedom.
''Note: This book is part of a historical collection and may include offensive language.'' +
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This article on "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/44047869.pdf the woman question]" of the right for American women* to vote appeared in [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly Popular Science Monthly], [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_49 Volume 49], in [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_49#June_1896 June 1896]. Two months later, Popular Science Monthly's editors attacked Tweedy's argument in an [https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_49/August_1896/Editor%27s_Table Editor's Table section titled "Women and Politics,"] reproduced below for historical context depicting the attitude of most men (and some women) of Tweedy's time:
:"The Monthly has lately given place to two articles on the subject of the demand which is now being made by some women on behalf of their sex to be allowed to participate in political life on a footing of perfect equality with men. One of our contributors [George F. Talbot, [https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_49/May_1896/The_Political_Rights_and_Duties_of_Women 'The Political Rights and Duties of Women']] has tried to show cause why the demand should not be granted, taking the ground that the change would be injurious to society as a whole and particularly injurious to the female sex. The other [Tweedy, below] treats the arguments of the first with scorn, and, if we are not mistaken, betrays not a little of that 'antagonism of the sexes' which nevertheless she declares to be 'unnatural and vicious.' The question is one which ought to be discussed with complete dispassionateness; and we think that on this score there was no fault to find with the earlier of the two contributions, that by Mr. George F. Talbot, in our May number."
The editors go on to dismiss Tweedy's argument because "As long as men alone do the voting, they are supposed to represent the non-voting sex. Every man has or has had a mother, most have one or more sisters, and a very large proportion have wives. Every man's vote, therefore, … ought to express his consciousness of and respect for the family tie." They continue, "What is mainly needed, in our opinion, is the deepening of the sense of trusteeship in men." Nevertheless, the "women agitators," described below by Tweedy, fought on until women won the right to vote with the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment.
✲ ''It should be noted that the public debate at the time often considered the voting rights of only white women. While women gained the vote in 1920 with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, it was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the right to vote for Black women, Indigenous women, and women of color was guaranteed.''
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This article on the German philosopher [[wikipedia:Johann_Gottlieb_Fichte|Johann Gottlieb Fichte]] (associated with the movement of [[wikipedia:German_idealism|German idealism]]) appeared in [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Philosophical_Review the Philosophical Review], [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Philosophical_Review/Volume_16 Volume 16], pp. 488-505, in 1907.
Ellen Bliss Talbot was a professor of philosophy at Mount Holyoke College from [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Ellen_Bliss_Talbot 1898 to 1932]. From [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Ellen_Bliss_Talbot Wikisource]:
<blockquote>“According to Dorothy Rogers and Therese B. Dykeman… ‘[Talbot] had a successful academic career, chairing Mount Holyoke’s philosophy department for thirty-two years and teaching part-time for several years after retirement. She published just three books, all on Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1898, 1899, 1906), in addition to her considerable number of articles in ''[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Philosophical_Review the Philosophical Review]'', ''[[wikipedia:Mind_(journal)|Mind]]'', and ''[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_American_Journal_of_Psychology the American Journal of Psychology]''. Her commitment to women’s education at Mount Holyoke was unwavering, helping to ensure that the philosophy curriculum met the expectations of her fellow academicians as philosophy established itself as a profession.’ From ‘Introduction: Women in the American Philosophical Tradition 1800–1930,’ in ''[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Hypatia Hypatia]'' 19:2 (Spring 2004): viii-xxxiv.”</blockquote> +
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This is a speech by Frederick Douglass given on Monday, July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York. The oration was published as a pamphlet the same year. Annotations were provided by the [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/What_to_the_Slave_Is_the_Fourth_of_July%3F/Annotated Wikisource] community. +
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This two-volume book is an “exposé about the Standard Oil Company, run at the time by oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, the richest figure in American history.” More from [[wikipedia:The_History_of_the_Standard_Oil_Company|Wikipedia]]:<blockquote>“Originally serialized in nineteen parts in McClure’s magazine, the book is a seminal example of muckraking, and inspired many other journalists to write about trusts, large businesses that (in the absence of strong antitrust laws in the 19th century) attempted to gain monopolies in various industries.”
“''The History of the Standard Oil Company'' is credited with hastening the breakup of Standard Oil, which came about in 1911, when the Supreme Court of the United States found the company to be violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.”
“The original book was a two-volume hardcover set. An abridged paperback edition was released later.”</blockquote> +
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[[wikipedia:A_Voice_from_the_South|From Wikipedia]]:
:“''A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South'' is the first book by American author, educator, and activist [[Anna J. Cooper]]. First published in 1892, the book is widely viewed as one of the first articulations of [[wikipedia:Black_feminism|Black feminism]]. The book is divided into two parts, ‘[[Classics:A Voice from the South/Part First: Soprano Obligato|Soprano Obligato]]’ and ‘[[Classics:A Voice from the South/Part Second: Tutti ad Libitum|Tutti Ad Libitum]].’ Each section contains four individual essays. This book led to the term ‘Cooperian’ being coined when speaking about Anna J. Cooper. It is considered one of the first, full-length Black feminist texts.”
:'''Overview'''
:“''A Voice from the South'' compiles a series of essays that touched on a variety of topics, such as race and racism, gender, the socioeconomic realities of Black families, and the administration of the Episcopal Church.”
:“The book advanced a vision of self-determination through education and social uplift for African-American women. Its central thesis was that the educational, moral, and spiritual progress of Black women would improve the general standing of the entire African-American community. She says that the violent natures of men often run counter to the goals of higher education, so it is important to foster more female intellectuals because they will bring more elegance to education. She noted Black women whose accomplishments could rival those of men, including [[wikipedia:Phillis_Wheatley|Phillis Wheatley]], [[wikipedia:Sojourner_Truth|Sojourner Truth]], [[wikipedia:Fanny_Jackson_Coppin|Fanny Jackson Coppin]], and [[wikipedia:Edmonia_Lewis|Edmonia Lewis]]. Cooper advanced the view that it was the duty of educated and successful Black women to support their underprivileged peers in achieving their goals. Through this view Cooper’s style was deemed ‘Cooperian,’ as a direct comparison to other male canonical theorists. …”
:“''A Voice from the South'' was published during a period that saw a burst of intellectual publications by Black women. Cooper’s book was published the same year as [[wikipedia:Lucy_A._Delaney|Lucy Delaney]]’s ''From the Darkness Cometh the Light; or, Struggles for Freedom'', [[wikipedia:Ida_B._Wells|Ida B. Wells]]’s ''Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases'', and [[wikipedia:Frances_Ellen_Watkins_Harper|Frances Ellen Watkins Harper]]’s ''[[wikipedia:Iola Leroy|Iola Leroy]]; or, Shadows Uplifted''.”
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“''The Shame of the Cities'' is a book written by American author Lincoln Steffens. Published in 1904, it is a collection of articles which Steffens had written for [[wikipedia:McClure's|''McClure’s Magazine'']]. It reports on the workings of corrupt [[wikipedia:Political_machine|political machines]] in several major cities in the United States, along with a few efforts to combat them. It is considered one of several early major pieces of [[wikipedia:Muckraking|muckraking]] journalism, but Steffens later claimed that the work made him ‘the first muckraker.’” (Source: [[wikipedia:The_Shame_of_the_Cities|Wikipedia]]) +
