The Historian's World

[L Verge]

I agree that the accepted norm for women (up until the 1950s or later) was to maintain a happy home for their husbands, bear and raise children appropriately, and don't waste time on critical thinking. And, it appears that Mary Todd slipped into that role when she became Mrs. Lincoln. However, I also think that, as she and Abraham rose in the political world, it must have grated on her that she was excluded from conversations that she probably could have participated in fairly well.

Of course, I also know that many suffragettes were frowned upon by other women who still held to the theory that a woman's place was in the kitchen -- despite what the Civil War had taught about women's competence. It is also strange how the suffragettes turned against the black women who were also seeking full citizenship and the vote. I hope in this upcoming centennial year of the 19th Amendment that there will be a focus on all aspects of that movement.