{"id":3820,"date":"2025-02-26T06:15:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T06:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/discovering1920s\/?p=3820"},"modified":"2025-02-28T04:07:42","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T04:07:42","slug":"nellie-tayloe-ross-the-new-woman-and-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/discovering1920s\/blog\/2025\/02\/26\/nellie-tayloe-ross-the-new-woman-and-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Nellie Tayloe Ross: The New Woman and Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Bettmann Archive, Activist Julia Clifford Lathrop Posing with Her Supporters<\/em>. Photograph. <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Women\u2019s lives had changed significantly from the late 19th century into the 1920s. They became more involved in politics and increasingly joined the workforce. This challenged the traditional ideas of women\u2019s roles within society. Social and sexual norms surrounding women had also changed, leading to new ideas about womanhood and femininity. Many women had moved away from restrictive clothing of the Victorian era, as seen with the example of flappers. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Photos of Clara Bow (Left) and Louise Brooks (Right). Bow and Brooks were American actresses who rose to fame in the 1920s. They became \u201cflapper icons\u201d and symbols of the “Roaring Twenties\u201d. The flapper is an example of a \u201cnew woman\u201d during the 1920s. <\/strong>
1. Bettmann Archive. USA: Clara Bow in Get Your Man<\/em>. 1927. Photograph. Bettmann Archive.
2. Bettmann Archive. Portrait of Actress Louise Brooks<\/em>. Photograph. Bettmann Archive. <\/strong>


Newspaper article in the Evening Star <\/em>reporting on Ross\u2019 views on women\u2019s roles. Ross states \u201cWomen and men bring different assets into the field of politics. Any question of their relative importance is like the eye saying to the ear \u2018What need have I of thee?\u2019.\u201d  
3. Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), October 24, 1929, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the 1920s, Nellie Tayloe Ross achieved a historic title. She was elected Governor of Wyoming in 1924. She took office in 1925, becoming the first woman to ever serve as a governor in the U.S.A. Ross represents the “new woman” but in a way that differs from the stereotypical image of the carefree flappers of the 1920s. She was an older woman actively involved in politics. During the late 19th century and into the 1920s, women had entered the political arena. They became political actors, supported suffrage, and sought progressive and urban reforms. One popular reform was prohibition, a law infamously tied to the image of the 1920s. Ross was one of these women. She was a firm supporter of prohibition. Ross had believed that the consumer was just as guilty as the bootlegger. She was even once requested to authorize an investigation of the Park County Sheriff, who had been accused of accepting pay from an alleged bootlegger.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cnew woman\u201d of the 1920s would agree on one thing: women\u2019s roles within society were changing, and their roles would be different from the old restrictive version of womanhood. However, this did not prevent disagreement and tension. Women\u2019s ideas of feminism and women\u2019s rights were sometimes at odds. Some women, like Julia Lathrop and Frances Perkins, believed in women\u2019s distinctiveness. They believed that women needed special protections that aligned with their sex. While many women supported the Equal Rights Amendment, which promoted equal rights between men and women, many women like Lathrop and Perkins felt indifferent to it. They feared this would create barriers to sex-based labor legislation that specifically protected working women. Ross is an example of a woman who possessed different ideas of women’s newfound roles and power. Feminists and suffragists did view Ross\u2019 election as a victory and a step towards women’s political voices. However, some women\u2019s rights movement leaders were disappointed with Ross’ refusal to prioritize her influence on the movement. She believed in women\u2019s capabilities within the political field but was not a \u201chardcore feminist\u201d. Echoing the traditional views during the previous century, she stated that a woman\u2019s role as a wife and mother was of the highest importance. She would become cautious with her involvement in feminism because of its negative image within the politics of the time. This cautiousness prevented her from appointing more women in government positions. Nevertheless, Ross firmly believed in women\u2019s roles within the political sphere. While she promoted femininity, she sought to prove it did not have to dismiss a woman\u2019s right to exercise political power. Her status as the first woman governor still inspired other \u201cnew women\u201d to get involved in the field of politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bibliography <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bettmann Archive. USA: Clara Bow in Get Your Man.<\/em> 1927. Photograph. Bettmann Archive. https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/news-photo\/clara-bow-in-get-your-man-news-photo\/514892606<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bettmann Archive. Portrait of Actress Louise Brooks.<\/em> Photograph. Bettmann Archive. https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/news-photo\/actress-louise-brooks-poses-for-a-portrait-session-in-news-photo\/514205164<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evening Star (Washington, D.C.). October 24, 1929.<\/em> Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https:\/\/chroniclingamerica.loc.gov\/lccn\/sn83045462\/1929-10-24\/ed-1\/seq-3\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bettmann Archive. Activist Julia Clifford Lathrop Posing with Her Supporters<\/em>. Photograph. https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/news-photo\/julia-clifford-lathrop-lead-the-way-for-improving-american-news-photo\/517294142<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s.<\/em> New York: Hill and Wang, 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mackey, Mike. \u201cNellie Tayloe Ross and Wyoming Politics.\u201d Journal of the West<\/em> 42, no. 3 (2003): 25\u201334. https:\/\/research-ebsco-com.library2.ramapo.edu:2443\/linkprocessor\/plink?id=f5cae36e-3b49-3ace-ba5b-0cabe6b1f206<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scharff, Virginia. “Feminism, Femininity, and Power: Nellie Tayloe Ross and the Woman Politician\u2019s Dilemma.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies<\/em> 15, no. 3 (1995): 87\u2013106. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2307\/3346786<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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