This study focuses on the state's impact on American society from the Civil War to the present. For the past several decades historians have tended to divide themselves into increasingly distinct historical perspectives. This anthology seeks to reverse that trend by linking the viewpoints of political and social historians to interpret the growth of the state and society in the United States since 1865, an era during which the state's role has been expanded and redefined in a diverse and rapidly modernizing America. This technique challenges historians to think more broadly about the interactions between the state and society.

Arguing that the close examination of political frameworks offers significant insights into facets of social history, these chapters seek to connect social and political history through a common thread of human experience. Pieces are grouped thematically and chronologically to illustrate how the state's role in society has developed over time. The first six examine the state's influence on, and manipulation by, social groups, particularly women, Native Americans, labor, and the military. The final three demonstrate the impact of political and social thought on the relationship between the state and society.

What was it like growing up in the Great Depression, and how did America's youngest citizens contribute to the history of that fateful decade? In The Greatest Generation Grows Up, Kriste Lindenmeyer shows that the experiences of depression-era children help us understand the course of the 1930s as well as the history of American childhood. For the first time, she notes, federal policy extended childhood dependence through the teen years while cultural changes reinforced this ideal of modern childhood. Grade-based grammar schools and high schools expanded rapidly, strengthening age-based distinctions among children and segregating them further from the world of adults. Radio broadcasters, filmmakers, and manufacturers began to market their products directly to children and teens, powerfully linking consumerism and modern childhood. In all, the thirties experience worked to confer greater identity on American children, and Ms. Lindenmeyer's story provides essential background for understanding the legacy of those men and women whom Tom Brokaw has called "America's greatest generation." While many children suffered terribly during these years-and are remembered vividly in the Farm Security Administration's stunning photographs of the era-Ms. Lindenmeyer argues that an exclusive focus on those who were ill-housed, ill-fed, and ill-clothed neglects the contributions and widely varied experiences of American youngsters. The decade's important changes touched the lives of all children and teenagers. By 1940, the image of an idyllic modern childhood had been strengthened in law and confirmed in culture by the depression years. With 21 black-and-white illustrations.

These original biographical sketches provide an excellent introduction to both the contrasts and continuities of American women's experiences through nearly four centuries. Major subjects and themes emerge from the writings, including women's rights, suffrage, education, health, 'women's liberation, ' relations between the sexes, and marriage. An excellent resource for courses in American history, women's history, and social history, Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives offers students a comprehensive and very human picture of women in American history.

Warring factions in the United States like to use children as weapons for their political agendas as Americans try to determine the role--if any--of the federal government in the lives of children. But what is the history of child welfare policy in the United States? What can we learn from the efforts to found the U.S. Children's bureau in 1903 and its eventual dismemberment in 1946? This is the first history of the Children's Bureau and the first in-depth examination of federal child welfare policy from the perspective of that agency. Its goal was to promote "a right to childhood," and Kriste Lindenmeyer unflinchingly examines the successes--and the failures--of the Bureau. She analyzes infant and maternal mortality, the promotion of child health care, child labor reform, and the protection of children with "special needs" from the Bureau's inception through the Depression, and through all the legislation that impacted on its work for children. The meaningful accomplishments and the demise of the Children's Bureau have much to tell parents, politicians, and policy-makers everywhere.