ABSTRACT
Good Housekeeping (GH) went Gilman one better and organized its own survey of rural women – "a great National Inquiry," to be carried out by means of a questionnaire printed in GH itself and in three major farm publications. The historian William Bowers argues that urban women did take up the causes of their rural sisters, working for rural school improvement, improved health and sanitation, and the provision of clean, comfortable "rest rooms" for rural women and children to use during their visits to towns. Farmer's Institute programs for women included some technical presentations on, for example, poultry, and beekeeping, along with domestic science-type programs on food preparation, child care, and clothing construction. Instances of collective action by rural women, even on their own behalf, are rare. There is the special case of the Grange, which admitted women as full members from the start, required their participation in all Grange activities, and provided them with a set of unusual opportunities.
