Author of new book, Funding Feminism: Monied Women, Philanthropy, and the Women’s Movement, 1870-1967, is joined by panel of local women leaders
Historian and author Joan Johnson of Northwestern University will present a public lecture in Indianapolis on October 3, the day after her new book, Funding Feminism: Monied Women, Philanthropy, and the Women’s Movement, 1870-1967, is published.
The event, which is free and open to the public, is from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the Indianapolis Urban League, 777 Indiana Avenue. Those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP.
As the struggle for full economic and political power and self-determination for women continues today, this history reveals how generous women helped shape the movement. Johnson documents that tensions over wealth and power that persist in the modern movement have deep historical roots. In advance of the 2020 centenary of legislation approving women’s right to vote, Johnson will focus her remarks in Indianapolis on how women philanthropists helped women get the right to vote.
Following Johnson’s presentation, three local women leaders will share their perspectives about how women today can leverage their voices and their philanthropy to make a difference for their communities and the world.
The local panelists are: Christina Hale, President and CEO of Leadership Indianapolis and former Indiana State Representative and recent lieutenant governor candidate, Hope Hampton, Founder of Indescribable Gift Giving Circle; and Ruth Morales, Mayor’s Neighborhood Advocate for the City of Indianapolis.
In her book, Johnson examines an understudied dimension of women’s history in the United States: how a group of affluent white women from the late nineteenth through the mid-20th centuries advanced the status of all women through acts of philanthropy.
Motivated by their own experiences with sexism, and focusing on women’s need for economic independence, these benefactors sought to expand women’s access to higher education, promote suffrage, and champion reproductive rights, as well as to provide assistance to working-class women.
In a time when women still wielded limited political power, philanthropy was perhaps the most potent tool they had. But even as these wealthy women exercised considerable influence, their activism had significant limits. As Johnson argues, restrictions tied to their giving engendered resentment and jeopardized efforts to establish coalitions across racial and class lines.
The event is organized by three units at IU Indianapolis: the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the IU Indianapolis Office for Women, and the IU Indianapolis Office of Community Engagement. For more information, contact wpiinfo@iu.edu or call 317-278-8990.
About the Women’s Philanthropy Institute
The Women’s Philanthropy Institute increases understanding of women’s philanthropy through rigorous research and education, interpreting and sharing these insights broadly to improve philanthropy. By addressing significant and groundbreaking research questions and translating that research into increased understanding and improvements in practice, WPI helps to leverage new and expanded resources for the common good. Follow us on Twitter @WPIinsights and “Like” us on Facebook.
About the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IU Indianapolis) is dedicated to improving philanthropy to improve the world by training and empowering students and professionals to be innovators and leaders who create positive and lasting change. The school offers a comprehensive approach to philanthropy—voluntary action for the public good—through its academic, research and international programs and through The Fund Raising School, Lake Institute on Faith & Giving and the Women’s Philanthropy Institute. Follow us on Twitter @IUPhilanthropy or “Like” us on Facebook.