Women in Public: Between Banners and Ballots, 1825-1880 Paperback - 1992

First line

On May 15, 1862, Major General Benjamin Butler, commander of the Union forces in New Orleans, issued General Order Number 28, which read as follows: "As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women (calling themselves ladies) of New Orleans, in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter when any female shall, by word, gesture or movement, insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the Unites States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her vacation."

From the rear cover

On May 15, 1862, U.S. General Benjamin Butler, commander of occupied New Orleans, ordered that any woman who publicly insulted Union soldiers be subject to prosecution as a prostitute. Not all nineteenth-century women, Butler learned, felt their place was in the home. As his order implies, women were governed by an unwritten code of public conduct, appeared on public streets, spoke out on public issues, and were subjects of public policy. In "Women in Public" noted historian Mary P. Ryan examines each of these issues as it affected women in New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco.

Contrary to current perceptions, Ryan contends, nineteenth-century women appeared in public in a variety of roles. They took part in civic ceremonies, from Independence Day celebrations to ethnic festivals. Whether they sonsorted in parks designed for "ladies" or in the increasingly regulated haunts of prostitutes, their place in the everyday life of the streets became more segregated and distinct. Denied access to the voting booth, they practiced "outdoor politics," waving handkerchiefs at rallies--and wielding brickbats in riots.

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Citations

• Ingram Advance, 06/01/1999, Page 169