Studies in American Cultural History:
The History of the Middle Class
Fall 2012
Sarah McNair Vosmeier
VOSM@hanover.edu
Quick Links
Course Description
In this course, we will make historical arguments
about the culture of the American middle class, using primary
sources and secondary sources to support those arguments.
With a working understanding of the terms
highlighted above, we can look more closely at how the middle class
has behaved and expressed itself from the turn of the nineteenth
century to the present. Aspects of middle-class culture we will
consider include work life, college life, parenting, housing,
material culture, and leisure pursuits. While middle-class
culture has long seemed central to American identity, historians and
others have rarely been clear about what they mean by the middle
class or by middle-class culture. We will try to do better.
Books Available at the Bookstore
Diana Hacker, Rules for Writers (2008)
David Brooks, On Paradise Drive (2004)
Marina Moskowitz, Standard of Living (2004)
Peter N. Stearns, American Cool (1994)
All assigned books are available on reserve, and many assignments
are online. As our discussions will be based on close readings
of the texts, you will need to bring them to class (or photocopies,
print outs, or your own extensive notes on them). Thus, you
should budget appropriately for printing and photocopying.
Calculating Final Grades
Transcription project
13%
Exhibit
project 12%
Book Review
20%
Midterm
20%
Final
25%
Participation 10%
Nota Bene
Our class time provides an opportunity, rare in modern life, to
focus for an extended time on a single task and conversation.
Please do not multitask (with laptops, cell phones, etc.) while we
are together.
Late papers will be penalized, and in-class assignments cannot be
made up. Students with emergencies who wish to request an exception
to this rule should contact me before the due date. A Note about
Writing Assignments, Exams, and Participation:
Transcription project: Students will transcribe a manuscript
from the Duggan Library Archives and put it in historical context
(700-900 words).
Exhibit project: Our class is responsible for mounting a small
exhibit at the Duggan Library (on hotel silverplate), with each
student researching and identifying a different item.
Book review: Students will evaluate a scholarly monograph about the
American middle class (1000-1500 words)
Exams: The exams will include identifications and essay questions.
Participation: Students are expected to
participate in all discussions. There may be occasional brief
assignments intended to complement the regular work of the class.
People who excel in participation show evidence
of careful preparation for discussions; they make useful comments in
class or ask helpful questions; and they adequately complete all
brief assignments, handing them in on time.
A note about this course and history department goals: Through class
discussion, papers, and exams, you will develop skills in analyzing
primary sources and in evaluating historical arguments. You will
make your own historical arguments supported by evidence from
primary and secondary sources.
Assignments
Introduction
and Definitions
Monday, Sept. 3,
2012 “Defining Terms” (lecture).
Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012 Siegel, “The Difficulty
of Defining What 'Middle Class' Is,” 2010 (transcript online);
Rhode, “What do we mean by ‘middle class’?” 2011 (online);
Vosmeier, “Thinking about Class in History,” 2012 (handout).
Friday, Sept. 7, 2012 “Students
and Manners” 1851-2006
(online).
Origins of the
American Middle Class
Monday, Sept. 10, 2012 Marx, Communist
Manifesto, 1848 (excerpt
online).
Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012 Workshop: Use of
Sources. Meet in Duggan Library computer lab.
Friday, Sept. 14, 2012 “Origins of the American
Middle Class” (lecture). Thompson, Making of the English Working
Class, 1963 (on reserve: pp. 9-13 and ten pages of your own
choosing).
Monday, Sept. 17, 2012 Goloboy,
“The Early American Middle Class,” 2005 (pdf
download).
Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012 “College Life: The
Nineteenth Century” (lecture); primary sources on college life (online).
Friday, Sept. 21, 2012 Workshop: Archival
Research. Meet in Duggan Archives. Transcription draft due.
Monday, Sept. 24, 2012 Zakim, “The
Business Clerk as Social Revolutionary,” 2006 (pdf
download); Spencer, Practical Penmanship ( online).
Material Culture Workshop.
The Middle Class, 1850-1900
Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012 “Late Nineteenth-Century
America” (lecture). Transcription project due.
Friday, Sept. 28, 2012 Kasson, “Disciplining the
Audience,” 1990(online);
Headley, “Pen and Pencil Sketches of the Great Riots,” 1873 (online).
Monday, Oct. 1, 2012
McCarthy, “Class Struggle in the Parlor,” 2008 (go to abstract
online, and click on "pdf full text."); workshop t.b.a.
Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012 Moskowitz, Standard of
Living (pp. 19-63).
Friday, Oct. 5, 2012 Material
Culture Workshop. Meet in Duggan Archives.
Monday, Oct. 8, 2012
Alling diary, 1883-1884 (online).
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012 Review. Exhibit
project part one due.
Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 Midterm
exam.
Midterm break
Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012
Stearns, American Cool, 1994 (pp. 16-57).
The Middle Class through World War II
Friday, Oct. 19, 2012 “Early
Twentieth-Century America” (lecture). Material culture
workshop. Exhibit project part two due.
Monday, Oct. 22, 2012 Stearns,
(pp. 95-6, 120-41, 164-82, 270-81).
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012 No class.
Friday, Oct. 26, 2012 “College Life: Through
”(lecture); Hanover College news, 1903 (online); Portland, Oregon, news, 1912 (online); Macalester College news, 1916 (online); Hanover Songs, 1924 (online).
Monday, Oct. 29, 2012 Gordon,
“Gibson Girl Goes to College,” 1987 (online);
Norwood, “Student as Strikebreaker” 1994 (online).
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 Moskowitz,
220-238; Peixotto, Getting & Spending, 1927 (online).
Friday, Nov. 2, 2012 Lands, “Be a Patriot, Buy
a Home,” 2008 (pdf
download); Gelber, “Do-It-Yourself,” 1997 (pp.
66-90, 101-3, online).
Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 Smith,
“Childhood, the Body, and Race Performance,” 2006 (go to abstract
online, and click on "pdf full text.").
The Middle Class since World War II
Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012 “Recent
American History” (lecture). Mills, White Collar, 1951
(on reserve: pp. ix-xx, 182-190, 204-212).
Friday, Nov. 9, 2012 Hurley,
Diners, Bowling Alleys, and Trailer Parks, 2001 (on reserve: pp.
1-19, 107-10, 159-67, 191-98, 247-53).
Monday, Nov. 12, 2012 “College
Life: Since World War II” (lecture). Book Review due.
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012 Frazier, Black
Bourgeoisie, 1957 (on reserve: pp. 26-28, 168-188, 192-95).
Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 The Apartment, 1960 (on
reserve).
Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 Triangle articles, 1968-1971
(online);
Triangle articles, 1970 (online);
Rodgers, interview, 2010 (online);
Brooks, Paradise Drive, 2004 (pp.
142-45, 153-65, 173-85).
Thanksgiving break
Monday, Nov. 26, 2012
Brooks, pp. 38-64, 69-74.
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 Movie, c. 1988 (t.b.a.).
Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 Brooks, pp. 75-95, 106-110,
246-48, 267-75, 278-81.
Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 “The Giant
Pool of Money” 2008 (download pdf
of transcript).
Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012 "Chintz or Shag" game, 2001 (
online).
Friday, Dec. 7, 2012
Review.