The Republican platform of 1896 contained a plank on women's rights that Ricker paraphrased and quoted in her own support: "I assisted in rescuing the country from Democratic and Populistic mismanagement and misrule, and now I want and ask for a 'wider sphere of usefulness.'"'" She admitted that her first intention had been to ask for a post in Berlin because of her fluency in German, but she preferred the warmer climate of South America and added that the salary for the Colombian post would be welcome, even though it was substantially less than that paid to the holder of the German mission. Language, she thought, would be no problem, for she could learn Spanish as quickly as she had German, Italian, and French. 10

By the time Ricker's application was resubmitted to McKinley she had gained sponsorship from what some thought to be "a somewhat conservative source." Henry W. Blair, former senator from New Hampshire, was an orthodox Republican on such issues as the tariff, sound money, and the pension, but his strong humanitarian convictions and fervent belief in women's suffrage nurtured his support for Ricker. Blair practiced law in the District of Columbia after retiring from active politics in 1895. He had served in Congress three sessions as a member of the House and as a senator from 1879 to 1891. His efforts on Ricker's behalf included five messages to the president as well as an unrecorded personal interview.11

Blair first recommended Ricker in early March, soliciting for his candidate the post of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America. to the United States of Colombia "or some other diplomatic position of equal rank and importance." He reviewed her qualifications as a good Republican, accomplished linguist, and able student of international law. Blair cited the abilities of three

9 The Business Folio, Mar. 1, 1897.

10 Boston Post, Feb. 6, 1897.

11 Scales, History of Strafford County, pp. 614-615.

women then influential in governmental affairs, Queen Victoria, Maria Cristina, regent for Alfonso VIII of Spain, and Tz'u-hsi, the empress dowager of China, and sought to convince McKinley of the great opportunity for justice presented to him by Ricker's application:

It is a sad reflection that the Great Republic still rests in the disgraceful bonds of a narrow conservatism which the favorable consideration of this application will enable you to break assunder, and thus, in its very beginning, dignify and ennoble your Administration of public affairs by a conspicuous act of justice....

In short, Mr. President, unless women are to be forever excluded from the diplomatic service, there can never be a more fortunate opportunity than this to take the advance. step, too long neglected, and by this grace

ful, adequate and dignified recognition of the womanhood of the country, establish the great truth that the soul and not the sex of the applicant is the true test of qualification for public service.12

Blair's endorsement was accompanied by memorials and testimonials from seven women's business and professional organizations, five women's patriotic societies, seven large groups of private citizens, attorneys from three firms, and four newspaper and journal editors. The documents came from the District of Columbia and six statesNew Hampshire, Massachusetts, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado, and California.13

Blair's second effort on Ricker's behalf was supported by another patriotic organization, a Boston newspaper editor, a private citizen, and Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll.14 In early April McKinley received testimonials from New Hampshire Republicans, fifty-two women of Washington, D.C., including Belva Lockwood and Matilda Joslyn Gage, a prominent feminist organizer and writer.15 Later Lillie Devereaux Blake, president of the New York City Woman Suffrage League and the New York State Woman Suffrage Association, endorsed Ricker. 16 Even The Arena, a journal that had supported Bryan in 1896 and embraced such radical causes as birth control, the single tax, free silver, prohibition, and penal reform called for Ricker's appointment. Its editor, John Clark Ridpath, was aware of the irony of The Arena's offering advice to the new president. He wrote that his publication supported Ricker "as far as our influence extends. This may be said humorously, but... is sincerely and seriously meant.” 17 Blair too, was conscious of the odds against his friend's appointment, for he exhorted the president

12 Blair to McKinley, Mar. 8, 1897, Ricker File. 13 Ibid.

14 Ibid.

15 Blair to McKinley, Apr. 10, 1897, ibid.

16 Ibid., May 3, 1897.

17 The Arena 17 (1897): 977-978.

once again: "Conscious that there are strong influences adverse to the application of Mrs. Ricker because, and only because of her sex, I beg of you Mr. President, not to neglect this pressing and fortunate opportunity to perform a great, just, and I may well say conspicuous and immortal act, which if done now will be sure to rank hereafter among the most illustrious deeds of any American President." 18

Seven weeks elapsed before the former senator submitted his final letter and endorsements from representatives of women's groups in Massachusetts and Idaho.19 The message to the president was little more than a formality for five months had passed since Blair's first appeal. It must have been obvious by then that the individual who had been at the forefront of so many professional and political efforts by her sex would not be the first woman official to represent the United States abroad.

No record exists to provide unmistakable determination of why McKinley declined to appoint Ricker, but speculation is not difficult. There was no great public outcry against the application. It is likely, however, that the appointment of a woman as minister would have become much more widely known than had her application. Neither McKinley nor his new secretary of state, John Sherman, were politicians likely to risk the results of what might have been a very controversial act. Moreover, none of Ricker's support came from sources whose goodwill was indispensable to the new administration. Ingersoll was the most prominent Republican of the group, but his influence had never been irresistible and was waning. Indeed, the endorsements of some, such as Ridpath, may have had a negative effect on the application. The appointment of the nondescript Charles Burdette Hart suggests that the sensitivity of the Colombian post was not a factor in the selection. Had it been, the fact that Hart

18 Blair to McKinley, May 3, 1897, Ricker File. 19 Blair to McKinley, June 25, 1897, ibid.

was a man likely outweighed Ricker's qualifications in the eyes of the new administration. Ricker accepted failure philosophically and congratulated the man named for the post.20

Age and the loss of this battle did not diminish Ricker's determination to serve reform. She applied her legal talents to the problems of labor, finance, and penal reform. She broke with her party when it became the vehicle of progressivism, but continued to be active in politics, presenting herself as a candidate for governor of New Hampshire in 1910. Her candidacy was rejected by the attorney general on the basis that one who had no statutory right to vote 20 Scales, History of Strafford County, pp. 614-615.

could not run for office. Ricker's later years were devoted to writing on free thought. Her belief was similar to that of her idols, Thomas Paine and Robert Ingersoll, whose doctrines she contrasted to those of John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards in The Four Gospels.21 Ricker died of a stroke at the age of eighty, three months after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. She lived to see the faint beginnings of a time in which women of her talent and determination would be able to devote more attention to "usefulness" and suffer less from restrictions of the sphere that masculine propriety deemed fit for them to occupy.

21 Marilla M. Ricker, The Four Gospels (New York, 1911).

Women's service in World War I was varied and comprehensive. It included a range of activities from knitting to operating drill presses and engaged a cross section of the female population from rural housewives to society girls. The World War I period was the first time in the United States that a systematic effort was made through organizations like the National League for Women's Service and the Women's Committee of the Council of National Defense to determine the capabilities of women in all regions of the country and to encourage and direct their activities.

Much of this work fell into the traditional realm of volunteer activity: knitting garments for the boys overseas, canning a can for Uncle Sam, planting victory gardens, and protecting children from the adverse influences of war. Through these activities every homemaker could readily demonstrate her patriotism without appreciably digressing from her usual routine. Women with more time volunteered to hostess at canteens, make bandages, organize food and clothing drives, collect books, and cut clippings from newspapers and magazines. Thousands canvassed the streets touting the sale of Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps. The Women's Land Army, dressed in bloomer uniforms and armed with such slogans as "The Woman with the Hoe Must Defend the Man with the Musket," was dispatched to assist farmers in planting, harvesting, and processing crops.

Most of this volunteer work fell within the established bounds of women's club work and was accepted as an appropriate demonstration of female patriotism. More historically significant was the presence of women in ever increasing numbers in industrial work previously reserved for the male population. Contradicting the predic tion in World's Work of June 1917 that

NANCY E. MALAN

women's war work "will not consist in putting on trousers or an unbecoming uniform and trying to do something that a man can do better," women wore the uniforms of elevator operators, streetcar conductors, postmen, and industrial workers. They were employed in aircraft and munitions plants, shipbuilding yards, and steel mills. to operate lathes, drill presses, millers, and other machine and hand tools. In addition, they continued as part of the labor force in the usual women-employing industriestextiles, clothing, food, and others. Although some women were displaced by returning soldiers, 100 of every 1,000 employees in 1919 were women as compared with 65 of every 1,000 in 1914. Women performed ably during the war and laid the foundation for more specialized jobs, increased wages, better working conditions, and a more competitive status in the labor market.

The following photographs were selected primarily from the records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, which assigned numerous military photographic units to record the war on the battlefront and at home, and the War Department, which fell heir to many of the photographs taken or collected by the Committee on Public Information and by private sources. As documents of social history the photographs contribute to a broader definition of the American woman who has been largely neglected by historians. From these photographs we can decipher who participated in the war effort, how they looked and dressed, and the conditions under which they worked. The photographs provide vivid and amusing glimpses of the past that humanize women and capture otherwise lost details, both enhancing and increasing our knowledge of women during the World War I period and their place in American history.