Primary Resources

Progressivism

Courtesty of Boston Public Library


"Fifteen reasons why No-License is better than license"
This document illustrates the debates in Massachusetts and around New England about prohibition and temperance. This is one of many pamphlets circulated by both private citizens and organized groups in favor of prohibition. The author is from Brockton, MA.


"The Beneficent Work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union-Organized Mother Love"
Abby Morton Diaz was one of the influential women in the Boston area, championing for women’s suffrage, workers and women’s rights, and feminist thought in the early years of the 20 th century. This letter, to her friend and colleague Mary Livermore, discusses the logistics of a meeting of the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union of Boston. Diaz and Livermore were both involved in the organization, sitting on the board and organizing events.

“Poems for the Times: Devoted to Woman's Rights, Temperance, etc.” Rowley, Frances A.
Rowley’s poems talk about everything from feminism to love to the evils of alcohol. Excerpts of her book, “Poems for the Times,” are included here to show the diversity of the Progressive Era’s social causes and attitudes.

Spencer, Anna Garlin. “Intemperance: In its Relation to Social Ills.”
Boston: Reprinted by the Unitarian Temperance Society, 1897

Stearns, J. N. “The Constitutional Prohibitionist, or Prohibition by the People.”
New York : The National Temperance Society and Publication House, 58 Reade Street, 1889.

Women's Educational and Industrial Union. “Protection for Working-Women.”
This flyer for the WEIU in Boston advertises legal assistance to women in the workforce. The WEIU was an advocate for women who felt that their employers are acting dishonestly, either by cheating female employees of proper compensation or otherwise taking advantage of women working in their businesses. The WEIU’s advisory board and benefactors include such prominent Bostonians as Abby Morton Diaz and William Lloyd Garrison Jr.

Courtesy of Proquest and the Boston Public Libarary

“Favors the Progressives.”
Dec 2, 1913

“Federal Suit On New Haven Ready.”
Nov 22, 1913

“The Progressive Gospel.”
Jan 19, 1912

“What Congress Has Done.”
Sep 9, 1916

Courtesy of the National Park Service

National Park Service, Salem Maritime National Historic Site. “Polish-Americans In Salem: A Transition in Photographs.” Pickled Fish and Salted Provisions: Historical Musings from Salem Maritime NHS, volume VI, number 4, March 2004.
This pamphlet discusses Salem’s Polish immigrants and their influence on the city’s cultural diversification beginning in the later years of the 19th century. The Polish community in Salem is an excellent example of a large immigrant group which affected the social and cultural identities of many areas in Massachusetts,. The Polish community was particularly large in industrial cities such as Salem, Lynn, Gloucester, and Haverhill. These immigrant communities became centers of old-world culture, new interpretations of American ideals, and nativist prejudices and hostilities.

Andover Historical Society

These documents below include annual reports, organizational charters, pamphlets and programs that illustrate women’s involvement in the organization and implementation of charities in the Progressive Era. Women played important roles in the creation of educational classes, and relief charities for women, the elderly, and the children of the poor and immigrant populations..

1815 Citizen's Lecture Course materials. 1870-1888

Andover Womens' Relief. 1890-1935

Andover Home for the Aged, Charter and Bylaws. 1902.

Society for Organized Charity, Andover Guild. 1896-1930

Courtesy of the National Archives, Northeast Branch

U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor. Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900, Population. Salem, MA (selections from Ward 1) and Lawrence, MA (selections from Ward ).

1900 , Chestnut Street, Lawrence, MA

1900 Elm Street, Lawrence, MA

1900, Ward 2, Lawrence, MA

1900, Ward 1, Salem, MA


U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor. Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910, Population. Salem, MA (selections from Ward 1, Enumeration Districts 452 and 453) and Lawrence, MA (selections from Ward ). NARA, Northeast Branch, Waltham.

1910, Chestnut Street, Lawrence, MA

1910, Elm Street, Lawrence, MA

1910, Ward 1, Salem, MA

Web Resources

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Zei Gebensht Du Freie Land, Solomon Smulewitz (Small) and Joseph M. Rumshisky, 1911
"Land of the Free," a comic song but unabashedly patriotic, delivers impassioned lyrics that describe the hope and fierce loyalty many immigrants felt for America. The lyrics read: "Every Jew must express his loyalty to the Land of Freedom with all his being/Once settled he will surely appreciate a Land which gives him full and equal rights/ Yes! Yes!/ So become a citizen, take out the required papers/ Oy, Oy/ Become an in-law of Uncle Sam/ Cast your vote/ It gives you great power/ Then none can cause you hurt/ The world will esteem the Jew/ Defend the American Flag."

“Oil War of 1872." , Tarbell, Ida M. Chapter III of the History of the Standard Oil Company. McClure's Magazine, January, 1903
At the turn of the century, a group of hard-hitting crusading journalists examined what they considered the evils of the day, and, in periodicals like McClure's Magazine, which featured articles such as this recording of Standard Oil's predatory pricing tactics and political corruption in Minneapolis. Theodore Roosevelt tagged such writers "muckrakers" after John Bunyan's man with a muckrake, who raked up "filth." These exposés led to social and economic reforms during the Progressive Era.

National Women's Trade Union Seal. Wendt, Julia Bracken.
This seal, designed by Julia Bracken Wendt, features a woman in armor with a shield marked "Victory" taking the hand of a mother with babe in arms. Between them the sun rises on the goals of the National Women's Trade Union League (NWTUL): "The Eight-Hour Day. A Living Wage. To Guard the Home," while a factory looms in the background. The NWTUL was formed in response to the lack on interest of male unionists in the organization of women workers. The NWTUL drafted guidelines for labor reform legislation, including minimum wage and an eight-hour work day.

Die Fire Korbunes, Meyrowitz, David, composer and Louis Gilrod, lyricist, 1911.
Yiddish American popular song was rooted in Eastern European Jewish minstrelsy, which had long addressed current social, economic, and political themes. However, commercial Yiddish popular sheet music, characterized by ornate and exotic cover designs, was a uniquely American phenomenon. "Die Fire Korbunes" ("The Fire Victims") is an elegy to the 146 victims, mostly young Jewish and Italian immigrant women, who perished in the March 25, 1911, fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory, a New York City garment sweatshop. Public sympathy and outrage over the tragedy led to the establishment of a Factory Investigating Commission, instrumental in drafting new legislation that mandated improved working conditions.