Gendered Power on the Great Plains: Women's Work and Community Identity in the 1930s
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
History
Date of Award
Fall 2016
Abstract
Decades before the events of the Dust Bowl, gender roles on the Great Plains were established. A man’s place was in the field and a woman’s realm was the home. A good farm woman knew the role she was supposed to play and in many cases she performed her duties without complaint. She tended her garden, along with her dairy cows, chickens, and turkeys and though she made income from selling the fruit of her labors, her efforts were a sideline, not a vital income stream for the family.1 However, the combined disasters of the Great Depression and a prolonged drought, which caused the Dust Bowl, catapulted women’s work to the forefront. Though she was making money, sometimes the only money coming into the home, the farm woman did not have control over earnings.2
Advisor
Jessica Brannon-Wranosky
Subject Categories
Arts and Humanities | History
Recommended Citation
Rhoads-Coley, Jamie L., "Gendered Power on the Great Plains: Women's Work and Community Identity in the 1930s" (2016). Electronic Theses & Dissertations. 826.
https://digitalcommons.tamuc.edu/etd/826
