The American New Woman Revisited: A Reader, 1894-1930

“A Farewell Letter to the Kaiser from Every Woman,” Helen Rowland

215 “A Farewell Letter to the Kaiser from Every Woman” Helen Rowland R Born in Washington, D.C., but of Virginia parentage, Helen Rowland (1876–1950) was a popular journalist and humorist famous for her satirical epigrams on the topic of marriage. She began writing“verse, dialogues, and short interviews with authors” for the Washington Post after her father died and she needed a job. Thereaftershewroteforanumberof newspapers,includingtheSundaynewspaper the New York Press and the New York Evening World, and magazines, including the Critic and Life. After prodding by a publisher to write a funny article about men rather than women, she developed her column “Reflections of a Bachelor Girl”(circa 1908), which proved immediately popular. Later Rowland reminisced that “feminism was rife in the land, the suffragettes were battling for the vote— and the column was an instantaneous success!”From these articles,she compiled the book Reflections of a Bachelor Girl (1909) and later wrote “If”; also, the White Woman’s Burden (1927). Rowland served as vice president of the New York Newspaper Women’s Club and wrote for the New York Journal and American and Hearst’s King Features Syndicate, which featured her column titled “The MarryGo -Round.”1 The Washington Post, in which Rowland’s “Farewell Letter to the Kaiser” was published, had long been an adamant supporter of U.S. neutrality in World War I. The Post changed course dramatically, however, after an intercepted telegram revealedthatGermanyhopedtomakeanalliancewithJapanandMexicoagainstthe United States.OnApril 2,1917,PresidentWilson stood before Congress to make his case for U.S. intervention to make the world “safe for democracy.” In the wake of the October 1917 Russian Revolution, the Post became virulently anti-Bolshevik. Washington Post, Nov. 12, 1918. During 1918, the population of Washington, D.C. grew from 395,000 to 525,000, and demand for government workers surged.Women began working for the post office delivering mail. Retail stores and banks actively recruited female employees. The Post flourished during the war, and by 1919 circulation neared 75,000.2 For further information on the Washington Post, see the introduction to Kate Masterson’s“The Campaign Girl”in part I. KAISER WILHELM. . . . I thank you For having given me back my faith in Humanity, and in the ultimate triumph of the good and the right and human justice. You have restored and strengthened my faith in Divinity, and in a Divine Providence, which allows NOTHING to happen in vain! You have shown me, in all their fairest colors. The soul of the American MAN, and the spirit of American WOMANHOOD! Into the dull round of my tight, little, commonplace life you have sent tragedy and sorrow. But WITH it a new and vital spark, a glorifying flame. Which has burned out all the old materialism and smug cynicism. And awakened all my dormant ideals, all my old romanticism, all my sleeping visions of beauty and nobility and heroism! You have aroused and strengthened my love of my Country, and stirred in me a glowing patriotism which shall never die! You have starred my horizon with HEROES. Until a dull world glitters with their deeds of valor, and shines in the reflection of their undying glory. (And, to a woman, what is a world without heroes and hero-worship?) You have torn the veil of materialism from a commercial age, And shown me that great souls, and great men DO exist. And that“there are GIANTS,”even in these days—great men, like Woodrow Wilson, and Lloyd George, and Clemenceau, and Foch, and Diaz! Super-statesmen, with a broad vision, and a selfless devotion to humanity! You have given me the ballot and the rights of citizenship. But, best of all, you have stirred me out of my selfish lethargy, strengthened my brain and soul, and muscles, and taught me the usefulness of WOMAN! You have given me a deep and vast respect for my own sex And an admiration and respect for MEN, which nothing shall ever shake. In short, you have made of me a NEW WOMAN, in a brand NEW WORLD! A finer, stronger, wiser, sweeter, broader, tenderer, happier woman! Yes. YOU have done all this—unconsciously and quite unintentionally, of course—and you didn’t MEAN to do it. american new woman revisited 216 But, you see, it sometimes takes the greatest forces of EVIL. To awaken and stir up the greatest and most...