This first full account of Amelia Stone Quinton (1833-1926) and the
organization she cofounded, the Women's National Indian Association
(WNIA), offers a nuanced insight into the intersection of gender,
race, religion, and politics in our shared history. Author Valerie
Sherer Mathes shows how Quinton, like Helen Hunt Jackson, was a
true force for reform and progress who was nonetheless constrained
by the assimilationist convictions of her time. The WNIA, which
Quinton cofounded with Mary Lucinda Bonney in 1879, was organized
expressly to press for a "more just, protective, and fostering
Indian policy," but also to promote the assimilation of the Indian
through Christianization and "civilization." Charismatic and
indefatigable, Quinton garnered support for the WNIA's work by
creating strong working relationships with leaders of the main
reform groups, successive commissioners of Indian affairs,
secretaries of the interior, and prominent congressmen. The WNIA's
powerful network of friends formed a hybrid organization: religious
in its missionary society origins but also political, using its
powers to petition and actively address public opinion. Mathes
follows the organization as it evolved from its initial focus on
evangelizing Indian women-and promoting Victorian society's ideals
of "true womanhood"-through its return to its missionary roots,
establishing over sixty missionary stations, supporting physicians
and teachers, and building houses, chapels, schools, and hospitals.
With reference to Quinton's voluminous writings-including her
letters, speeches, and newspaper articles-as well as to WNIA
literature, Mathes draws a complex picture of an organization that
at times ignored traditional Indian practices and denied individual
agency, even as it provided dispossessed and impoverished people
with health care and adequate housing. And at the center of this
picture we find Quinton, a woman and reformer of her time.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(4)
