Belle La Follette Progressive Era Reformer [Hardcover]

In 1931, the New York Timeshailed Belle Case La Follette as probably the least known yet most influential of all the American women who have had to do with public affairs. A dedicated advocate for women's suffrage, peace, and other causes, she served as a key advisor to her husband, leading Progressive politician Robert La Follette. She also wielded considerable influence through her own speeches and journalism, as when she opposed racism by speaking out against the segregation of the federal government under President Woodrow Wilson.

In a concise, lively, and engaging narrative, Nancy C. Unger shows how Belle La Follette uniquely contributed to progressive reform, as well as the ways her work was typical of women--and progressives--of her time. Supported by primary documents and a robust companion website, this book introduces students of American history to an extraordinary woman and the era of Progressive reform.

Acknowledgments and Note on Sources

Part I: Belle Case La Follette

Introduction: One of the Nations Greatest Women

1. The Making of a Feminist

2. Seeking Balance: Marriage, Motherhood, and the Challenges of Progressive Womanhood

3. The Flowering of a Progressive: Journalist and Suffrage Leader

4. The Successor to Harriet Beecher Stowe

5. Champion of World Peace and Disarmament

6. Ensuring a Legacy

Part II: Documents

In this fast-paced biography, Nancy Unger rescues from obscurity the remarkable political leader, Belle La Folletteprogressive, feminist, anti-racist activist, and pacifistwho managed in the early twentieth century to balance engaged motherhood with tireless campaigning for social justice.

Robyn Muncy, author of Relentless Reformer: Josephine Roche and Progressivism in Twentieth-Century America

In her groundbreaking biography, Nancylã¦