Women's History Month Lecture

The Department of History will hold a roundtable titled “Reflections in History” for Women’s History Month featuring four panelists from Baylor University’s Department of History. This event is free and open to the public. 

The Roundtable will be held on March 5, 2025, in Morrison 100, 1322 S 5th St, Waco, TX 76706, from 4:00 - 5:00 pm. 

David Wilkie | MA Student

"‘In a Christian Frame of Mind’: Analyzing the Role of Christianity in the Relationship Between White and Enslaved Women in the Antebellum South" 

Wilkie will discuss the relationship between enslaved women and plantation mistresses in the Antebellum South has long acknowledged that despite sharing their gender, these two groups of women experienced a relationship that was often marked by tension, animosity, and anger. White plantation mistresses did not view enslaved African American women as their equals, and their behavior towards enslaved women reflected this. While a large body of scholarship on this topic exists, past scholars have failed to adequately address the role of religion in the relationship between white and enslaved women. Analyzing the testimony of enslaved and formerly enslaved women, I have shown that many viewed their mistresses as cruel, heartless women, often describing episodes in which mistresses verbally, physically, and/or emotionally abused them. Whereas white mistresses were able to comfortably align their Christian identity with their existence as oppressors, enslaved women could not reconcile an image of a cruel and heartless mistress with the tenets and principles of Christianity, naturally causing enslaved women to resent their mistresses. Therefore, I argue that in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of this complex relationship, it is imperative to understand the role that Christianity played in creating tension between these two groups of women.

Savannah Flanagan  | PhD Student

“Menstruating in Utopia: Religious Intentional Communities and Women's Health”

Flanagan will discuss how the period of the early republic in American history was an era of experimentation, marked by significant developments in the professionalization of medicine, the expansion of religious ideologies, and conversations around women's identities and rights. These seemingly disparate experiments often intersected, jointly shaping ideas of gender, health, and spirituality. This intersection is particularly evident in religious intentional communities established during this time, such as the Moravians and the Shakers. Both groups held unconventional views on gender, each supporting women who remained unmarried and celibate.

While scholars continue to explore experiences of maternity in early United States history, less attention has been given to the social understanding and medicalization of menstruation. This paper will examine how the Moravians and Shakers perceived the spiritual significance of menstruation and their approaches to the treatment of menstrual irregularities. Drawing on religious writings, medical diaries, and medical books used by these communities, their unique perspectives on women's health will be explored. Overall, this paper argues that since Shakers and Moravians supported single women, their approaches to women's health often diverged from the typical focus on reproduction.

Dr. Steven Jug | Lecturer in History

“’Painfully Feminine’”: Imperial Russian Nursing in the Crimean War

Dr. Jug's presentation will explore the challenges and achievements Russian women nurses faced during the Crimean War.  Women's nursing as professional endeavor emerged alongside modern systems of military medicine, which provided an opportunity to define a role before norms and institutional barriers solidified. Among the four royal or imperial nursing orders operating during the war, only Russian nurses faced the added difficulty of working under fire. Willing volunteers demonstrated their professionalism and the hollowness of midcentury gender norms through nearly a year of siege. While nurses faced obstruction from military high command and suffered from internal divisions, they leveraged aristocratic networks and medical sources of legitimacy to create a role in military medical care.

Dr. Andrea Turpin | Associate Professor & Graduate Program Director of History, Affiliated Faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies & Resident Scholar at Institute for Studies of Religion

"'When Women’s Education Was New: Two Visions for Preparing American Women to Serve the Nation"

In keeping with the national theme for Women’s History Month 2025, “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations,” Dr. Turpin's paper compares the visions of two women who were pioneers in opening higher education to American women. Catherine Beecher and Mary Lyon had a lot in common: born within three years of each other, both were passionate about expanding women’s educational opportunities in the early 1800s when women couldn’t yet attend college. But despite their similarities, different beliefs led them to try to expand women’s roles in different ways. Each of their educational approaches thus benefited some women more than others.