Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2026
Abstract
In this thesis, I aim to explore the implications of women and girls travelling unaccompanied in New York City during the time before the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment (circa 1900-1920). By exploring specific examples of societal measures and responses to the phenomena of widespread female mobility – including responses to these original measures by both affirming and opposing parties – and increasing existence in the public sphere, I hope to discern the public attitude towards the growing social freedoms of women as they possibly move beyond the more strict Victorian or Edwardian social rules of the previous generation. Of course, transportation systems or other public transit were not the only form of mobility women experimented with and gained during this era in New York. The act of travelling inside of the city – that is, existing between places and physically navigating throughout New York (e.g., walking, riding a train, strolling through a public park, etc.) alone and unaccompanied – is mobility in of itself, and is deserving of academic attention and analysis.
Recommended Citation
Erlbaum, Helene Martinez, "Women’s Movement and Mobility in New York City: Restriction, Rejuvenation, and Resistance in the Progressive Era, 1900-1920" (2026). Undergraduate Research Awards, Hollins University. 90.
https://digitalcommons.hollins.edu/researchawards/90
Comments
Undergraduate Research Awards - 2026 Winner, Junior/Senior Category