2017 Participants
Hannah Marmaro
Women’s Shakespeare Clubs in the United States were a widespread phenomenon in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. They not only provided educational opportunities for their members, but also the opportunity for women to be active in their local community as well as national movements like women’s suffrage. This project aims to do a detailed case study of one such club, the West Side Shakespeare Club of the mining town in Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives. By studying how these women saw Shakespeare and literature in general as a way (in the words of the club’s motto) ‘to be prepared for life’, we can gain a deeper understanding of the lives of middle-and working-class women during this time period, and of the contribution reading and sociability can jointly make to fostering community in a rapidly-changing world.
Funding source: Newcastle University
Supervisor: Professor Kate Chedgzoy