Reform Efforts Of Women During The Progressive Era

During the Progressive era, there were reform efforts utilized by middle and some upper classes to address the wrongs of the Industrial Age and to ensure a fairer social order securing that the middle-class lifestyle remained comfortable through "ideas of efficiency, sympathy, and a belief in progress" (Schultz, 2018). This concept of progressivism began with a specific agenda to clean up the nation's cities but quickly developed to include efforts to reduce poverty, launch labor reform, create better worker regulations, and improve the poor living conditions of urban housing, all through a more democratic political process. The majority of these middle-class men and women lived in areas like Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York, however, they

Because of the actions of two of the nationally known ministers, Washington Gladden and Walter Rauschenbusch, began to fight for Progressive reform. The Southern Gospel Movement was focused on acts of kindness, as opposed to Social Darwinism. Many college-educated, middle-class, professional women were also involved in the Progressive movement as a way to perform public service and have a job. One of the best-known women Progressives was Jane Addams, who thought of her efforts as part of her domestic responsibility. Other women who impacted the Progressive movement were Margaret Sanger, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Alice Paul. The efforts of these women led to changes in women's health, stopping violence against African-Americans, and women's voting rights. Two groups who progressed in the advancement of women's rights were the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the National Women's Party which was led by Alice Paul. The efforts of both groups led to the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to

In order to do this, they created settlement houses which allowed reformers an opportunity to realize what changes needed to be made in the area. These houses were also used to hold meetings and provide free healthcare to the residents. In 1889 in Chicago, Jane Addams founded the most renowned settlement house, known as the Hull House. The majority of the residents were women who lobbied for the government to pass better construction and safety regulations, created a better process to collect garbage, and eliminated prostitution by shutting down red-light districts.

While the Women's Christian Temperance League was developed to push for local, mandatory temperance education in alcohol, there were also efforts to reduce alcohol consumption by the men in the urban neighborhoods. In 1893, the Anti-Saloon League, founded by Howard Hyde Russell and Wayne Wheeler, was established in an attempt to pass legislation on alcohol at the local and state