Mary Burnett Talbert - Progressive Era Historical Background

Progressive Era Historical Background

The period in United States history commonly referred to as the Progressive Era spanned from 1890-1920. It represented a progressive shift in what Axinn and Stern (2005) refer to as “the lines between the countryside and the city, between workers and the middle class, between foreigners and native-born, and between men and women” (Axinn & Stern, 2005, p. 127). Not mentioned in this shift is the gruesome treatment of African-Americans under the Southern “Jim Crow” laws which excluded Blacks from political, economic, public, and educational spheres of influence.

These measures represented a tightening of oppressive politics and an era of social subservience, which arguably lasts into the present time. Discriminatory efforts took shape in black segregation in white social settings and strategically limiting Blacks right to vote with a combination of the grandfather clause, poll taxes and violent efforts at voting sites (Woloch & Johnson, 2009). Progressive era political reform was seen as necessary, but changing the attitudes and actions toward Blacks in the South was not on this political agenda.

The hostile environment of the South combined with the loss of jobs and the threat of lynching, encouraged the migration of many Blacks to the north. It is estimated that from 1890 to 1910, roughly 200,000 African Americans left the South and this number continued to increase during World War I (Woloch & Johnson, 2009). The move north represented employment opportunities in the textile industry, in large factories, automobile production and the famed meat packing industry of New York, but were still not from the harassment and discrimination that characterized this period of being Black in America. Axinn and Stern (2005) surmise that “the Black population was generally unaffected by reform activities and the social welfare benefits that resulted from them. In an era marked by economic progress and social mobility, the group remained poor and powerless” (Axinn & Stern, 2005, p. 132).

Despite the bleak picture painted by Axinn and Stern, African-American leadership was not at a shortage and “powerless” certainly does not describe the Black pioneers of this era. Notable Black change agents including Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells and Mary McLeod Bethune helped lead the fight for Black equality and opportunity. Similarly influential but less well noted activists include Mary Church Terrell, Nannie Helen Burroughs and Mary Morris Burnett Talbert, who is a noted international activist, educator, leader and social reformer. In a 1916 speech Talbert states, “no Negro woman can afford to be an indifferent spectator of the social, moral, religious, economic, and uplift problems that are agitated around ” (Williams, 1994). Her life’s work embodies these principles of dedication and hard work to improve the plight of Blacks and all people during this era.

Read more about this topic:  Mary Burnett Talbert

Famous quotes containing the words progressive, era, historical and/or background:

    To grant woman an equality with man in the affairs of life is contrary to every tradition, every precedent, every inheritance, every instinct and every teaching. The acceptance of this idea is possible only to those of especially progressive tendencies and a strong sense of justice, and it is yet too soon to expect these from the majority.
    Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)

    The purest lesson our era has taught is that man, at his highest, is an individual, single, isolate, alone, in direct soul-communication with the unknown God, which prompts within him.
    —D.H. (David Herbert)

    Quite apart from any conscious program, the great cultural historians have always been historical morphologists: seekers after the forms of life, thought, custom, knowledge, art.
    Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)

    I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.
    Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)