Endless Crusade: Women Social Scientists and Progressive Reform

This book examines the lives and careers of four American women--Sophonisba Breckinridge, Edith Abbott, Katharine Bement Davis, and Frances Kellor--who played decisive roles in early twentieth-century reform crusades. Breckinridge and Abbott used their educations in political science and political economy to expose the tragic conditions endured by the urban poor. Davis became the first superintendent of the New York State Reformatory at Bedford Hills and was a leading figure in prison reform. Kellor's sociological training gained her admittance to the smoke-filled rooms of national party politics and eventually to a high-ranking position in the Progressive Party. In Endless Crusade, Fitzpatrick follows these four women from their collective experience as University of Chicago graduate students at the turn of the century to their extraordinary careers as early-twentieth-century social activists, exploring the impact of their academic training and their experiences as professional women on issues ranging from prison reform to Progressive Party politics. Fitzpatrick examines how each woman struggled, in various settings, to promote effective social reform. Their shared commitment to social knowledge and social change, she shows, helped to shape the character of early-twentieth-century reform.

Review :
"A gift to historians, to social scientists, and to anyone hungering for women's biography in wonderful prose."--Signs "First rate--Endless Crusade joins a small but significant group of titles in the history of American feminism....It reveals the feminist origins of the twentieth-century welfare state. It is a most welcome contribution."--Donald K. Pickens, University of North Texas "An excellent study of the impact of the new social science and graduate training on social investigation and reform politics in the early twentieth century....Delightful to read and carries a strong thesis."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History "This engaging collective biography...contributes to the current re-evaluation of Progressive reform and the impact of academic social science on it. Fitzpatrick skillfully interweaves unique life histories to chart the transmission of social thought from developing academic fields to a wide range of institutions."--History of Education Quarterly "Well-written and interesting."--Contemporary Sociology "A highly informative and original analysis...A significant contribution to the emerging scholarship on women's intellectual and social history. Highly recommended for college and university libraries."--CHOICE "This model collective biography greatly illuminates our understanding of how women social scientists reshaped social policy between 1890-1930."--Kathryn Kish Sklar, SUNY Binghamton "Endless Crusade is a graceful and sensitive portrait of four important women, all of them pioneers in the emergence of the social sciences, all of them prominent reformers. In exploring their lives, Ellen Fitzpatrick illuminates the emergence of intimate connections between the academy and the state in the early twentieth century. She reveals, too, the existence in these years of a distinctly female approach to scholarly research and public action that had profound effects on both."--Alan Brinkley, Graduate Center, City University of New York "Fitzpatrick's vivid biographies reveal individuals of remarkable purpose and enterprise....Fitzpatrick brings their lives and contributions into respectful and realistic view, as inspiring foremothers and as cautionary figures."--Women's Review of Books "Engrossing and moving....An important contribution to social history."--Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences "A deeply researched and well-written study. This book significantly advances our understanding of the impact of women intellectuals on Progressive-era reform."--American Historical Review "In this splendidly executed study, Ellen Fitzpatrick shows how the varied threads of intellectual inquiry and organizational activism that made Progressivism unique were woven together by four influential women who combined professional training in the social sciences with pursuit of social and political change. Original, path-breaking, and deeply revelatory, Endless Crusade demonstrates women's centrality to Progressive reform. Most obviously a study that transforms our conception of Progressivism, this remarkable book is also indispensable for understanding the theoretical basis for modern social welfare policy."--Mary Kelley, Dartmouth College "A fine study."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society