Exploring American Girlhood through 50 Historic Treasures

Ashley E. Remer is the founder and Head Girl of Girl Museum—the first and only museum in the world dedicated to celebrating girlhood. She holds an MA in the History and Criticism of Art from the University of Auckland. For over two decades, Ashley has worked as an art historian, curator, writer, and editor internationally. She has collaborated with artists, NGOs, scholars, educators, and girls across the globe showcasing girl culture to raise awareness and promote social change. Her research focuses on girlhood in various local and global contexts. She is currently working on her PhD at the Australian National University and is the co-chair of the Girls’ History and Culture Network with the Society for the History of Children and Youth (SHCY). Tiffany R. Isselhardt serves as Girl Museum’s Program Developer, where she oversees exhibitions, podcasts, community outreach, and social media. She holds a Master’s in Public History from Appalachian State University, and has worked with the Hickory Ridge Living History Museum, Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, Theodore Roosevelt Center, Museum Hack, and the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky University. Her research focuses on uncovering the hidden history of girls in order to advocate for gender equality, and how museums can better interpret and provide programming inclusive of girls’ unique history and culture. She has presented on girlhood at several conferences, including the International Girl Studies Association and the National Council on Public History, and enjoys working at the intersections of history, material culture, and girl studies.

List of Figures

Preface: Why Girls?

Timeline

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Finding Girls in American History

PART I

9500 BCE to 1590s CE – In Search of ‘Home’



Xaasaa Na’ (Upward Sun River), Alaska
Hā’ena State Park, Kaua’i, Hawai’i
Mound 72, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Collinsville, Illinois
“The Display with Which a Queen Elect is Brought to the King”
Virginia Dare Monument, Roanoke, North Carolina

PART II

1600 to 1760s – Her and Me: Otherness in the New World



Pocahontas Statue, Jamestown, Virginia
Samuel Parris Archaeological Site, Danvers, Massachusetts
Mary Wright’s Sampler
Mary Jemison Statue, Letchworth State Park, New York
Phillis Wheatley Statue, Boston, Massachusetts

PART III

1770s to 1840s – Becoming “American”



Anna Greene Winslow’s Diary
Sybil Ludington Statue, Carmel, New York
Sacajawea Statue, Salmon, Idaho
Bill of Sale for a Girl Named Clary and Runaway Advertisement for Harriet Tubman
Pantaloons
Patty Reed’s Doll

PART IV

1850s to 1860s – Reckoning



Lime Rock Light House, Newport, Rhode Island
Belle Boyd House, Martinsburg, West Virginia
Reminiscences of My Life in Camp by Susie King Taylor
“Vinnie Ream at Work”
Poems and Translations by Emma Lazarus

PART V

1870s to 1910s – Hope



“Group in Bathing Costumes” by Alice Austen
Water Pump at Ivy Green, Alabama
Statue of Annie Moore, Ellis Island, New York
Portrait of Georgia Rooks Dwelle

PART VI

1870s to 1910s – Strife



Photograph of Princess Kai’ulani
“Indian Girls dressed for a ball game”
“Sadie Pfeifer” by Lewis Hines
Dormitory at Angel Island, California

PART VII

1910s to 1940s – Becoming “Modern” American Girls



Girl Scout Pledge Card
Paper Doll of Clara Bow
Cashay Sanitary Puffs
“Stand Up and Cheer” Dress worn by Shirley Temple
“Jumping Rope on Sidewalk” by Edwin Rosskam

PART VIII

1940s to 1950s – Voices



Elizabeth Kikuchi’s Letter to Clara Breed
Seventeen Magazine
Patty-Jo Doll
Monument to the Westminster Case Children, Westminster, California
Transportation Token from Montgomery, Alabama
Barbie Teen-Age Fashion Model

PART IX

1960s to 1970s – Revolutions



“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” by The Shirelles
Kachina Doll
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Mary Beth Tinker’s Black Armband
“Peggy Oki” by Pat Darrin

PART X

1980s to Present – Girl Power



Selena Quintanilla Memorial, Corpus Christi, Texas
Dominique Dawes’s Leotard
Rookie Yearbook One
GoldieBlox and the Spinning Machine
Letter by Anna Lee Rain Yellowhammer and Photograph of Mari Copeny

Afterword: The Future of American Girlhood

Selected Bibliography

Index

About the Authors