Mary Beard: The Rise Of American Civilization

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Although not a traditional historical academic, historian, archivist and activist Mary Ritter Beard (1876-1958) has been regarded by many as one of the most significant predecessors and advocate for women’s history in the United States during the Progressive era. Throughout her life, she campaigned in support of women’s suffrage, advocated for the improved conditions of the working class, and critiqued women’s education. In collaboration with her husband Charles Austin Beard, she co-wrote seven books regarding history including The Rise of American Civilization volumes, and wrote eight more in her own right such as Woman as a Force in History: a Study of Traditions and Realities. During her intellectual career, Beard’s work was shaped mainly …show more content…
In recognition that the fragmented representation of women in history, Beard adopted a more cultural approach to women’s history in her texts. She explored the theme further in her following books Women’s Work in Municipalities and A Short history of the American Labor Movement in combination to her interests in social reform and the expansion of women’s historical agency. In On Understanding Women, Beard writes of women’s contribution to the development of domestic arts such as the domestication of animals and their propensity to downplay their achievement and contributions. Although Mary Beard established her independence as a writer of history separately from her husband, her contributions are often undermined by many historians and critiques. In regards to her collaborative works with her husband, including A History of the United States, The Rise of the Midpassage, The American Spirit and A Basic History of the United States she is often overlooked or her contribution questioned, with some historians choosing to see them as solely as the work of Charles. This assertion was refuted by both Beards, particularly Charles who maintained that “In reality the scope of the book outside of politics is due to Mrs. Beard’s interest and her labors” Crocco and Davis …show more content…
Woman as Force in History serves as a culmination of Beard’s research and writing and is probably her strongest argument for women’s role in history. Throughout the text, Beard analyses the impact of William Blackstone’s theoretical works and advocates a longer view of world history that incorporated the contributions of women to civilisations as rulers, queens, teachers and establishers of institutions. Beard makes reference to women of the ruling class, who in the past, executed power that surpassed that of men. Reliant on democratic progress, Beard believed that it was inevitable that women’s history would become reconceptualised to the extent that women would realize their role as a ‘civilising force’ in history and emerge as leaders in the progression of
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