Henrietta Rodman (August 29, 1877 – March 21, 1923) was an American educator and feminist. She was active in advocating on behalf of married women teachers for their right to promotion and maternity leave.

Early life and education

Rodman was born in

Astoria, New York Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast, a ...

, the daughter of Rev. Washington Rodman and Henrietta Blackwell Rodman. Her father was a

Protestant Episcopal The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine Ecclesiastical provinces and dioces ...

clergyman in

West Farms, Bronx West Farms is a residential neighborhood in The Bronx, New York City. Its boundaries, are: Bronx Park to the north, the Bronx River Parkway to the east, the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the south, and Southern Boulevard (Bronx), Southern Boulevard ...

, and founder of St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx. She was a 1904 graduate of

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

Career

Rodman taught English and was a vocational counselor at

Wadleigh High School for Girls The Wadleigh High School for Girls, which was established by the NYC Board of Education in 1897, and which moved into its new building in Harlem in September 1902, was the first public high school for girls in New York City. At the time, public ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Opposed to the school board's restrictive policies on married women teachers, she married a psychologist friend, Herman de Fremery (a.k.a. Herman Defrem), in February 1913, and announced it to the press, saying, "If the married state affects a woman's work, the authorities can mark her accordingly. If it does not affect her work, and if she is as good a teacher as she was before, she deserves promotion, if it comes to her." She also referred to the Board of Education, in print, as "mother baiters." She was suspended according to

New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...

policy; a well-publicized and lengthy appeal followed, serving Rodman's purpose by keeping the issue in headlines. Rodman was a member of the Liberal Club and of

Heterodoxy In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek: , "other, another, different" + , "popular belief") means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". Under this definition, heterodoxy is similar to unorthodoxy, wh ...

. She agitated in the Liberal Club for the inclusion of African-American members, and for support of feminist causes; in 1913 she was successful in leading the relocation of the Liberal Club to

MacDougal Street MacDougal Street is a one-way street in the Greenwich Village and SoHo neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The street is bounded on the south by Prince Street and on the north by West 8th Street; its numbering begins in the south. Betw ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

. In 1914, Rodman formed the

Feminist Alliance The Feminist Alliance was a progressive era organization founded in 1914 by feminist activist Henrietta Rodman and her husband, Herman de Fremery, a professor at Columbia University. Creation of the Feminist Alliance Henrietta Rodman and Her ...

, uniting several feminist causes to work together. Rodman took special interest in the collective housing, childcare, and communal kitchens, following the writings of

Charlotte Perkins Gilman Charlotte Perkins Gilman (; née Perkins; July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935), also known by her first married name Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was an American humanist, novelist, writer, lecturer, advocate for social reform, and eugenicist. She wa ...

. She made serious plans for an apartment building to demonstrate those feminist principles, hiring an architect and rounding up financial backers, but stiff opposition and the onset of war scuttled any chance of success. During World War I, she was a member of the executive board of the

Woman's Peace Party The Woman's Peace Party (WPP) was an American pacifist and feminist organization formally established in January 1915 in response to World War I. The organization is remembered as the first American peace organization to make use of direct action ...

, and wrote and lectured on pacifism.

Personal life

Playwright

Floyd Dell Floyd James Dell (June 28, 1887 – July 23, 1969) was an American newspaper and magazine editor, literary critic, novelist, playwright, and poet. Dell has been called "one of the most flamboyant, versatile and influential American Men of Letters ...

said that Rodman "had an extraordinary gift for stirring things up. Incredibly naïve, preposterously reckless, believing wistfully in beauty and goodness, a Candide in petticoats and sandals." Her

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

public persona was considered eccentric at best: she wore sack-like dresses and sandals long before they were in fashion; her hair was bobbed; she smoked cigarettes. She threw crowded dinner parties in her top-floor apartment; Mary Austin recalled attending one such dinner, and meeting

James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peop ...

there.

Margaret Sanger Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control ...

also remembered attending a tea hosted by Henrietta Rodman, whom she called "Feminist of Feminists", in Rodman's

apartment. During her marriage to Herman de Fremery, the couple lived with Herman's earlier common-law wife, in an apartment on Bank Street. Rodman adopted two children and was known as "Mrs. Rodman" in her personal life. She died after unsuccessful surgery for a brain tumor in March 1923, at age 45.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodman, Henrietta American women in World War I American feminists 1877 births 1923 deaths Teachers College, Columbia University alumni People from Astoria, Queens 20th-century American people

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Further reading

References