Anna Garlin Spencer
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Anna Garlin Spencer (April 17, 1851 – 12 February 1931) was an American educator,
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
, and Unitarian minister. Born in
Attleboro, MA Attleboro is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It was once known as "The Jewelry Capital of the World" for its many jewelry manufacturers. According to the 2020 census, Attleboro had a population of 46,461. Attleboro is ...
, she married the Rev. William H. Spencer in 1878. She was a leader in the
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
and
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. In 1891 she became the first woman ordained as a minister in the state of
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. In Providence she was commissioned to develop the Religious Society of Bell Street Chapel which was to be devoted to the religious outlook of James Eddy. She compiled Eddy's views into a Bond of Union to which members of the new society would subscribe. She was later associated with the
New York Society for Ethical Culture The Ethical movement, also referred to as the Ethical Culture movement, Ethical Humanism or simply Ethical Culture, is an ethical, educational, and religion, religious movement that is usually traced back to Felix Adler (professor), Felix Adler ...
(1903–1909) and the
New York School of Philanthropy The Columbia University School of Social Work is the graduate school of social work of Columbia University. It is the nation's oldest social work program, with roots extending back to 1898, when the New York Charity Organization Society's first s ...
(1903–1913).In 1909, she signed on to the call to found the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...
. Over a long period she was a popular lecturer and wrote on social problems, especially concerning women and family relations. Her writings include ''Woman's Share in Social Culture'' (1913) and ''The Family and Its Members'' (1922).
The Family and Its Members in complete on Google Books


Biography

Anna Garlin Spencer was born on April 17, 1851, in
Attleboro, Massachusetts Attleboro is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It was once known as "The Jewelry Capital of the World" for its many jewelry manufacturers. According to the 2020 census, Attleboro had a population of 46,461. Attleboro is ...
. At the age of eighteen, she began to write for the Providence Journal. In 1878, Anna Garlin Spencer married Reverend William Spencer. After twelve years of marriage, Rev. Spencer became an invalid. In 1891, she became the first woman minister of RI at Bell Street Chapel of Providence, RI. In 1893, she spoke at the World Parliament of Religion during the Chicago World's Fair. In 1903, she became an associate leader of the NY
Society for Ethical Culture A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
. She was an associate director of the NY school for social work and staff lecturer at the NY school of Philanthropy. From 1908 to 1911, she was a special lecturer at the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
and director of the Summer School of Ethics for the
American Ethical Union The Ethical movement, also referred to as the Ethical Culture movement, Ethical Humanism or simply Ethical Culture, is an ethical, educational, and religion, religious movement that is usually traced back to Felix Adler (professor), Felix Adler ...
. From 1901 to 1911, she also lectured at the Institute of Municipal and Social Services in
Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
. In 1913, she was a professor of sociology and ethic at the
Meadville Theological School The Meadville Lombard Theological School is a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago, Illinois. History Meadville Lombard is a result of a merger in the 1930s between two institutions, a Unitarian seminary and a Universalist seminary. M ...
. In 1919, she moved to
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. From this time on, she gave numerous lectures at Teachers College of Columbia University. She still remained active in a number of organizations that included many interests, such as women's rights, social work, and religious education. Spencer died of heart failure on 12 February 1931 in New York City, at a dinner for the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
, which she had worked for many years to help establish.


Author

Spencer's book ''Women's Share in Social Culture'' was published in 1913, and noted women's lack of equality at this time. She pressed the need for
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
, especially as women were no longer shut up at home but were starting to become a part of the public society that once belonged exclusively to men. By promoting the "individuation of women," Spencer hoped to give insight into the lack of rights women had. ''The Family and Its Members'', published in 1922, this book shows the importance of the family and its foundation. This publication was based on three ideas: that the family institution should be preserved, that it should be modified to adapt to the changes in modern society, and noting the change in family order. According to the book, one huge impact on the family institution is society, which wants to control the family structure and influence the family to "conform" to social norms. Women are no longer silent in society; they are now recognized and play a role. Democracy once relied heavily on the strong educational upbringing of children (once the women's role). Now that women's roles have changed, women and their families have to find a new balance to still have a strong child upbringing. This solid upbringing will lead to a more beneficial society. Spencer hopes that society will move towards gender equality and decrease its influence over the family structure. Throughout this book, Spencer suggests ways the family can be more democratic and be strengthened by this new role for women.


Style and themes

Spencer wrote many scholarly books about women, especially with regard to women's work and positions. For instance, she explains that girls only work a few years, from when they are old enough to hold a job until
marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
. With the brief work experience, women are not taking advantage of
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
. Because women know they are only going to spend a brief period in the
workforce The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the Pooling (resource management), pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single types of companies, company or ...
, they settle for low-paying jobs and poor working conditions. She believes receiving an education only to stop working and stop using this education after marriage is a waste of the education. She advocates that women return to work part-time after child-bearing. She also acknowledges women's right to independence.


Selected works

* "The Legal Position of Married Women",
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, Volume 18, March 1881 at
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"Advantages and Dangers of Organization"
hosted a

originally published pp 170 –177 in '' The Congress of women: held in the Woman's Building, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, U.S.A., 1893, with portraits, biographies and addresses'' Mary Kavanaugh Oldham (ed.), Monarch Book Company. 1894 t Internet Archive">Internet_Archive.html" ;"title="t t Internet Archive* "iarchive:bellstreetchapel00spenrich">Bell Street Chapel Discourses" [with selections from James Eddy">Internet Archive">t Internet Archive* "iarchive:bellstreetchapel00spenrich">Bell Street Chapel Discourses" [with selections from James Eddy Printed by Journal of Commerce Co., Providence, (1899) at Internet Archive
Problems of Marriage and Divorce
International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Jul., 1909), pp. 443–465 - At JSTOR * iarchive:cu31924014057875, Women's Share in Social Culture. Press of J. J. Little & Sf Ives Company (1912) -At Internet Archive
The Family And Its Members
1923,
J.B. Lippincott Company J. B. Lippincott & Co. was an American publishing house founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1836 by Joshua Ballinger Lippincott. It was incorporated in 1885 as J. B. Lippincott Company. History 1836–1977 Joshua Ballinger Lippincott (Marc ...
, (1923). At
Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...


References


External links

*
Anna Garlin Spencer Quotations

Woman's Share in Social Culture eview">Woman's Share in Social Culture [review
/nowiki> Lorine Livingston Pruette">Pruette, Lorine. Social Forces">eview
/nowiki>">eview">Woman's Share in Social Culture [review
/nowiki> Lorine Livingston Pruette">Pruette, Lorine. Social Forces Vol. 4, No. 1 (Sep., 1925), pp. 243–244 AT JSTOR
The Remarkable Anna Carpenter (Garlin) Spencer
Wayback Machine archived copy of a biographical blog piece by distant relative and amateur historian John D Hew, who also references her in the similarly archive
Fearless Females - Nineteen Who Joined "The Call"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Anna Garlin 1851 births 1931 deaths American Unitarians American feminists People from Attleboro, Massachusetts Writers from Massachusetts