“A Perfect Nuisance” : Working-Class Women and Neighborhood Development in Civil War St. Louis

In the years between 1861 and 1864, working-class women became central players in St. Louis’s neighborhood based political conflicts. While previous scholars have examined Civil War conflicts within the city, few, if any, have examined these conflicts through the lens of neighborhood development. Integrating records from the Union Provost Marshal Papers, newspaper accounts, and personal narratives, this paper traces citizen’s efforts to rid their neighborhood of women who sympathized with the confederate government. Maps are used to visualize the presence of women in the urban landscape and illuminate connections between women’s experiences and the material and spatial changes of neighborhood development.