The Big Vote: Gender, Consumer Culture, and the Politics of Exclusion, 1890s–1920s

283 Pages·2004·2.423 MB·English

by  Liette Gidlow

THE BIG VOTE
Reconfiguring American Political History
Ronald P. Formisano, Paul Bourke, Donald DeBats,
and
Paula M. Baker, Series Founders
THE BIG VOTE
Gender, Consumer Culture, and the Politics of Exclusion,
1890s–1920s
Liette Gidlow

The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore and London
© 2004 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2004
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
Johns Hopkins Paperbacks edition, 2007
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of this book as follows:
Gidlow, Liette
The big vote : gender, consumer culture, and the politics of exclusion,
1890s–1920s / Liette Gidlow.
p. cm. — (Reconfiguring American political history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 08018-7864-0 (alk. paper)
1. Political participation—United States. 2. Voting—United States.
3. Women in politics—United States. I. Title. II. Series.
JK1764.G43 2004
324.973´0915—dc22
2003015033
ISBN 10: 0-8018-8637-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 13: 978-0-8018-8637-9
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
To my partner
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Making Dominance 1
Chapter 1: “Civic Slackers” and “Poll Dodgers”: Nonvoting
and the Construction of Discursive Dominance 17
Chapter 2: “A Whole Fleet of Campaigns”: The Get-Out-the-
Vote Campaigns in Overview 46
Chapter 3: “Vote as You Please—But Vote!”: The Leadership
of the Get-Out-the-Vote Campaigns 77
Chapter 4: “Good for at Least 100 Votes”: The Get-Out-the-
Vote Campaigns at the Local Level 110
Chapter 5: The Expert Citizen: Civic Education and the
Remaking of Civic Hierarchies 140
Chapter 6: The Methods of Wrigley and Barnum: The Get-
Out-the-Vote Campaigns and the Commodification of
Political Culture 161
Conclusion: The New Regime 194
Abbreviations 201

Notes 203
A Note on Method and Sources 233
Index 253
Illustrations follow page 109.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Acknowledgments are a celebration, a celebration of work completed
and of the relationships nurtured along the way. I would like to thank
the many teachers, colleagues, friends, and family members whose sup-
port helped to bring this project to a joyful close.
From our first meeting, Professor Joel Silbey treated me with respect.
For his intellectual engagement, his encouragement, his good humor,
and his steady attention to his role as chair of my dissertation commit-
tee, he has my lasting appreciation.
Mary Beth Norton and Mary Katzenstein each offered important sug-
gestions, criticisms, and support at the dissertation stage and beyond.
Though I was not one of his students, Michael Kammen generously
funded my first year of graduate study at Cornell with the Newton C.
Farr fellowship and welcomed me to his cultural history colloquium.
The history department at Cornell generously and consistently funded
my work with Mellon fellowships, the Daughters of the American Rev-
olution fellowship, and teaching assistantships. The program at Cornell-
in-Washington enabled me to spend a year in the Manuscript Division
of the Library of Congress while enjoying the company of pleasant and
talented colleagues, especially Linda Johnson and Steve Jackson. The fac-
ulty at Ohio State University was the first to offer support for my aspi-
rations. I thank Michael Hogan and James Bartholomew in particular for

creating opportunity.
My colleagues in the history department at Bowling Green State Uni-
versity have graciously supported this project in its latter stages. Don