Women On The Plains An Introduction

The four essays brought together here are a testimony to the surge of interest in women’s history in general and in the lives of women on the Great plains in particular that has welled up in the last decade. Unlike previous special issues of the Quarterly, which were the results of symposia planned around specific topics, this issue was generated by the articles themselves, which arrived independently on the editor’s desk within a relatively short period of time. Two are Overviews and two are case studies of particular groups of women. Together, the four articles suggest the richness of the field they represent. In the Opening article, Glenda Riley surveys Recent Developments in Research, proposing Not only a historiography but also some suggestions For formulating the best questions and Methodologies for future research. Riley shows That the West was, for pioneering plains women, Both an extension of home and a kind of freedom; The writings of historic women indicate That it was considerably more varied and interesting Than one might have thought from History books and articles written before the 1970s. Riley focuses attention on several areas Where researchers must exercise special caution. The idea of the exploitation of women by men Is One Of these? Should historians and other Scholars impute modern notions of oppression to\u27 previous generations of women and men