Curated OER
A Brief History of Women in America
The story of women throughout American history is fascinating. Travel the path from domestic slave to the modern day with advocates such as Susan B. Anthony, the Grimké Sisters, and Gloria Steinem. A wonderful presentation that shows how...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: Women, Temperance Reform, and the Cult of Domesticity
Lesson on how women's role in the campaign against alcohol consumption in 19th-century America reflected the strengths and limitations of the cult of domesticity. Complete set of resources for a comprehensive study.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: The Cult of Domesticity
A lesson plan that looks at the place of women in nineteenth century America. While their role that was constrained by societal expectations, they still wielded political power in subtle ways.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Cult of Domesticity: Resource Menu
A collection of eight primary resources and reading guides focusing on women's issues in the 1800s including domesticity, slavery, and suffrage.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Cult of Domesticity: Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
Read this mid-nineteenth century short story that raises questions about the roles of women as wives and mothers. Discussion questions are included.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Cult of Domesticity: Caroline Gilman: The Planter's Bride
A Northern author who moves with her husband to South Carolina and reflects in this chapter on the domestic roles of women. Through this text, Caroline Gilman examines one woman's definition of a fulfilling life.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Cult of Domesticity: Catharine E. Beecher
A chapter from Catherine Beecher's book, "A Treatise on Domestic Economy for the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School." Read how it contributes to the understanding of the American identity.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Cult of Domesticity: Fanny Fern: Fern Leaves From Fanny's Portfolio
Short periodical pieces that examine the complex and challenging roles that women found thrust upon them in mid-nineteenth century American culture. Discussion questions are provided.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Cult of Domesticity: Godey's Lady's Book, 1850
Published for much of the nineteenth century, Godey's Lady's Book provides a tapestry of differing images about the roles of women and of issues that concerned them. Discussion questions are provided.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Cult of Domesticity: Theodore Parker: Of the Function of Woman
A sermon by a Unitarian minister who argues that women have a positive role to play in American life and that isolating them within a domestic sphere loses the power of what they can contribute. Discussion questions are provided.
Columbia University
Treatise on Domestic Economy: The Peculiar Responsibilities of American Women
Text of the first chapter of Catharine Beecher's 1841 "Treatise on Domestic Economy, a best-seller of its time, which tries to reconcile women's position in society with Christian and democratic values.
Cengage Learning
Making America: Primary Sources: Rules for Husbands and Wives (1830)
Explanation and text of Matthew Carey's 1830 "Rules For Husbands and Wives" with questions to consider. From an online college textbook.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Emergence of "Women's Sphere"
The Cult of Domesticity and the Women's Sphere pertained to upper-middle class white women, but the ideals spread out into American culture. Read about how such women were supposed to behave, and see what privileges these women might...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New Roles for White Women
A look at the changes in the role of white, middle-class women as a result of the Second Great Awakening, among other social forces.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1800 1840: Women's Labor
From the Lowell factory workers to the feminized role of the American schoolteacher, women began to make professional strides during the first half of the 19th century.
Open Library of the Internet Archive
Open Library: Little Ferns for Fanny's Little Friends
This ebook version of Fanny Fern's Little Ferns For Fanny's Little Friends has been made available in multiple formats by the Open Library. Editions of the full novel, organized by year of publication, may be accessed here.