Men, Move Over

The changes evident all over America are becoming apparent in schools as well. Once a bastion of gender and racial exclusion, schools are now teaching adult skills to more women, and even Blacks and Indians.

While older boys are being exposed to industrial skills like machine shop, young women are being included in previously all-male activities. These help prepare them for colleges that are accepting more women.

Meanwhile, men's schooling is tilting heavily towards the new mainstay of American business. Engineering. Medical schools are also expanding rapidly, though scientific methods are still a novelty in the medical profession.
Women's schools, 1910

  Women at School
Higher education is opening up for women, but is not yet fully integrated. Separate schools are established that only admit women. Still, women are now being prepared for work in hospitals, being introduced to skills that nurses have never been taught before. Young black women are slowly being introduced to the white world. Many of their grandparents were slaves.

Universities for women, 1910

  Women Unleashed ... a little
America's first women's rights convention is held back in 1848. by 1910, women's dormitories at college and university still largely reflect the expectation that women, after graduation, will return to their proper place. The home. The ground floors often feature large, lavishly-furnished receptions rooms, suggesting that women should come down to practice socializing, after finishing their studies upstairs. Some young women rebel, socializing instead in their rooms, upstairs (bottom).


Engineering schools, 1910

  Wanted: Engineers
For men, the biggest change is the rise of engineering to the pinnacle of social status. Engineers are accorded deep respect, reflecting the belief that America is rising on the basis of industrial expertise, and rewarding those who understand how things work. Most lawyers and doctors of the time can scarcely compete, in terms of either admiration or income.