Partisan Women in the Progressive Era: The Struggle for Inclusion in American Political Parties

This article examines U.S. women's struggles to define their place and role in party politics at the turn of the twentieth century. The historical narrative moves from the establishment of Republican women's clubs in the 1880s through the promises for gender equality by the new Progressive party in 1912 to Republican and Democratic women's campaign efforts in 1916. The history of women's political activism contests the notion that American women were not partisan until after 1920 but also shows how "nonpartisanship" remained a resilient component of women's approach to politics.