ABSTRACT

This book is a history of the genesis and development of vocational education for young women in the United States. Home economics, trade training and commercial education – the three key areas of vocational training available to young women during the progressive era – are the focus of this work. Beginning with a study of the "woman question", or what women were supposed to be, the book traces the three curriculum areas from prescription, through lively discussions of policy to the actual programs and student responses to the programs. The author tells the story of education for work from several different perspectives and draws on a vast array of sources to paint this broad canvas of vocational education for young women at the turn of the twentieth century.

chapter 1|5 pages

Beginnings

part I|39 pages

Prescription and Myth

chapter 2|15 pages

Home Economics

A Panacea for Reform

chapter 3|12 pages

Trade Education for the Woman Who Toils

part II|33 pages

Politics

part III|46 pages

Curricular Programs and Practice

chapter 8|15 pages

Home Economics

A ‘Definitely Womanly Curriculum'

chapter 9|12 pages

‘Hats, Hats, Pins, Pins'

Trade Education and the Schools

chapter 10|12 pages

The Success of Commercial Education

chapter 11|5 pages

Meanings