Progressive Era Perspectives: Culture and Society in Early 20th Century America
The Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace is thrilled to announce its upcoming lecture series, "Progressive Era Perspectives: Culture and Society in Early 20th Century America." Featuring renowned experts in their respective fields, the series promises to be an educational and thought-provoking journey through this transformative period in American history.
Blueprints for Wellness: Public Health and the Built Environment in America’s Progressive Era January 24th, 2024 at 1:00 PM – Virtual Event Join us for a virtual exploration into the intersection of public health and architecture during America's Progressive Era. Our nationally recognized panelists will unravel how the pursuit of better health affected architectural choices and urban planning, paving the way for a healthier America. We will discuss lessons learned (or forgotten) from that history and discover how they influence the way we live and build today. Moderator: Rebecca Fenwick of Ethos Preservation specializes in community engagement, historical research, and documentation, serving as principal investigator and author of a wide range of projects and texts, including historic structure reports, resource surveys, and restoration plans. Panelists: Sara Jensen Carr, associate professor at Boston’s Northeastern University and author of The Topography of Wellness: How Health and Disease Shaped the American Landscape, will focus on parks and playgrounds. Jeanne Kisacky, a writer and architectural historian whose research focuses on the interaction of design and health, will explore hospital architecture. Dr. Elizabeth Yuko, a bioethicist and writer/speaker on public health and design, will examine the influence of disease (specifically the 1918 flu pandemic) on domestic design. |
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February 22nd, 2024 at 5:30 PM – Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, 10 E Oglethorpe Ave At the dawn of the 20th century, less than 50 years after emancipation and with Jim Crow laws in place across much of the country, Black girls and women faced a harsh career landscape. Nannie Helen Burroughs, an African American educator, broke barriers by establishing the National Training School for Women and Girls in 1909. Join us in welcoming special guest Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham for her lecture, "The Only School Ever Founded by an Organization of Negro Women," where she delves into her forthcoming book, A Tower of Strength. This talk highlights Burroughs' influential role in Progressive Era education and labor leadership, showcasing the vital role of Black women's schools in U.S. labor movements. Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham is an associate professor in the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Women’s Studies from Spelman College and a doctorate in Women’s and Gender Studies from Rutgers University. She is also the recipient of the National Women’s Studies Association’s Sara A. Whaley Book Prize for Putting Their Hands on Race: Irish Immigrant and Southern Black Domestic Workers (Rutgers University Press, 2020). Her articles about Nannie Helen Burroughs have appeared in The Washington Post and academic journals in African American Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Literary Studies. |
Hearing Happiness: A History of Deafness Cures & their Cultural Impact April 26th, 2024 at 5:30 PM – Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, 10 E Oglethorpe Ave Join us for a deep dive into the cultural impact of historical remedies for deafness during the Progressive Era. Special guest and historian Jaipreet Virdi will explore the remedies utilized by deaf individuals who sought to regain their sense of hearing. Virdi will explore the profound societal pressures that stigmatized deafness in the pursuit of normalcy. Jaipreet Virdi is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Delaware whose research focuses on the ways medicine and technology impact the lived experiences of disabled people. She is author of Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History (University of Chicago Press, 2020), co-editor of Disability and the Victorians: Attitudes, Legacies, Interventions (Manchester University Press, 2020), and has published articles on diagnostic technologies, audiometry, and the medicalization of deafness. |
Illustrating Change: Women Artists and Reform in the Progressive Era May 3rd, 2024 at 5:30 PM – Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, 10 E Oglethorpe Ave Mark your calendars for an exploration of the artistic contributions, activism, and lasting influence of women illustrators during the Progressive Era. Special guest and SCAD Illustration professor Julie Lieberman will illuminate the role of these pioneering artists in driving social reform and cultural transformation. Join us for an enriching experience that highlights the profound impact of women artists on the landscape of American history. Professor Julie Lieberman has been involved in writing, painting, and professional sand sculpting since the mid-1980s. Her work has appeared in Communication Arts, Print magazine, New York Daily News, and various other publications, venues, and galleries. She co-authored A Survey of Illustration, History and Techniques, published in Korea by Design House. Two subsequent editions have been printed. Julie is the illustrator and co-author of Spirits of Savannah , an illustrated book of ghost stories inspired by the rich historical fiction of Savannah. She also co-produced and created an accompanying live multimedia performance, bringing the Spirits of Savannah stories to life on the stage and screen at the Jepson Center. She has taught illustration and illustration history for 38 years, the last 22 years at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She earned her BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., and her MFA in Illustration as Visual Journalism from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She has taught at East Carolina University, Pratt Institute, and the School of Visual Arts. |
January 24, 2024
