This is one of the more interesting books in our library. It came into our collection through my wife, who presumably got this whilst attending college in Boston, though its exact origin is unknown. I’ve studied and browsed it. While not entirely clear, it would appear to be a sort of periodical of essays; though it could also be a text book of some sort.
The book is illustrated with photographs from the turn of the century, depicting anything from immigrant “Madonna’s” on Ellis Island, to Women’s TB colonies, to child cotten mill workers. Here’s what we know of the volume from its pages:

The Woman Citizen’s Library
For the Woman Who Would Keep Abreast of the Times
A Systematic Course of Reading in Preparation for the Larger Citizenship
Edited by Shailer Mathews, D.D.
Dean Divinity School, The University of Chicago
President, Western Economic Society
Published by The Civics Society, Chicago
Copyright 1913

The book would appear to be to prepare women to be good citizens. By the looks of it, one might assume it to be an early form of feminism, designed to help women achieve - or at least legitimately aspire to - some equal station with the male dominated world. This is not likely however, as the book was not only edited by a male, but a dean to a divinity school to boot. On the other hand, it was written a hundred years ago, before the domestic resurgance of the post World War II. So what exactly makes a proper woman citizen in America in 1913? How different were our views then, than they are today? Does this small volume give us a glimpse of our past, or our present?

This is an introduction to a series of posts in which I will be sharing bits of this book with you.

The caption to this photo reads, “Just Tired and Discouraged”