The gendering of diaspora: Irish American women teachers and political activism

ABSTRACT

This article examines the way in which Irish American women teachers used education as a platform to extend the reach of their social and cultural capital, enabling them to subvert patriarchal and imperialist ideologies and, embracing subjectivity, assume key leadership roles in a range of associations fundamental to organised feminism. Drawing on a tapestry of primary sources, it interrogates how these gender transgressors successfully resisted the patriarchal ideology of nineteenth century American society, subverting essentialised notions of womanhood. Two women are examined over the course of this article, Margaret Haley (1861–1939), teacher and labour leader and Julia Harrington Duff (1859–1932), teacher and educationalist activist. Focussing on the ways in which Irish American women teachers enhanced their social mobility in and through education allows for a re-reading of the historiography of diaspora, establishing the educational and historical record within diasporic spaces as deeply gendered as well as women's role therein inherently agentic.

KEYWORDS:

• Irish American women teachers
• diaspora
• political activism

Acknowledgements

This research was undertaken while on a Fulbright Scholarship to Boston College. I am grateful to Geraldine Clifford and Kate Rousmaniere for comments on an earlier draft.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fulbright Commission Ireland.

Notes on contributors

Judith Harford

Judith Harford is Professor of Education, Deputy Head of the School of Education and Vice Principal for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the College of Social Sciences and Law, University College Dublin. She is an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (London), the Ireland Canada University Foundation Flaherty Visiting Professor, 2017–2018 and a Fulbright Scholar in the Social Sciences, 2018–2019. She has held visiting scholar appointments at Boston College and the University of Toronto. She specialises in the history of women's education and in gender equality in higher education.