I am currently taking a course titled HST591:Digital history with Dr. MacFadyen in the history M.A. program at Arizona State University. According to the syllabus, digital history is defined as the “use of computers, digital media, and other tools for historical practice, presentation, analysis, and research.” In addition to my background as a political scientist, I hope to continue to expand my understanding of gender and American political history through completion of this rigorous program. In this particular course I will utilize digital history to explore gender and progressive era politics in the context of the red scare. As I develop my own work in the field I will also share digital media on the topic.
Judith McDonough lightly discusses the junction between the suffrage movement, labor, and the red scare. According to McDonough, Jane Addams work in support of the League of Nations was equated with “un-Americanism” by the Daughters of the American Revolution, who then placed her on their “subversive” list. Addams was one of many woman who were painted red during the red scare. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie Chapman Catt, Ann Howard Shaw, Alice Paul, Mother Jones, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Kate Richardson O’Hare, and Emma Goldman, the list is extensive.
Previously, in 1917, 41 suffragists were arrested for protesting in front of the White House. During their hearing Judge Mullowney equated their protest with those in Russia, “Look over at Russia.. see what happens there, when the people abandon law and order and there is nothing but a mob and everybody stands on rights he imagines he has. I tell you it’s dangerous.” He then found them all guilty. The Evening Public Ledger‘s account of the event is seen above. In my work I hope to examine the lives of political women during the first red scare to discuss the implications of early “pinkness”.