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By Lanita Withers Goins, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-3890
Posted 6-15-09
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Much has been written about the rise of urban poverty in the 1950s and 1960s, decades considered to be the roots of the current problems in U.S. inner cities. But most of it has been written from a male perspective, excluding the unique experiences of women trying to hoist their families above the poverty line despite the roadblocks they faced.
Dr. Lisa Levenstein, an assistant professor of history at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, reframes the experience of urban poverty through the lenses of women in her new book “A Movement Without Marches.”
Her findings challenge notions about the roots of chronic poverty. “Poor women did not cause their own poverty – they were not lazy, they were not irresponsible,” Levenstein said. “It took a tremendous amount of work, foresight and determination to seek resources from public institutions and to survive on the meager amounts of assistance offered. These women were determined and resourceful as they strove to create better lives for themselves, and especially for their children.”
Set in post-World War II Philadelphia, the book explores the hardships black women faced as they looked for employment, governmental assistance and quality education for their children. Women, married and single, expected to hold jobs, Levenstein said. But they were often constrained by the racism that impacted black men, as well as problems that were traditionally a woman’s burden, such as finding childcare.
“For many of these women, even if there was a job available, they couldn’t get the job because they had children and lacked child care,” Levenstein explained. “Many of them had health problems. Many were victims of domestic violence.”
Governmental agencies weren’t much help. Levenstein describes a paradoxical relationship between women and public institutions: On one hand, the agencies provided the women with crucial assistance that helped them keep their children, obtain child support, afford housing and educate their children.
“But the assistance they received had strings attached, and the institutions created new problems for these women,” she said. “For instance, the amount of money women received from welfare was minimal. It was a stipend, not enough to support a family. But there were rules that prevented women from getting a part-time job to supplement their stipends. If women got jobs, they had to give some of their money back to the government.”
Levenstein focused her research on Philadelphia after finding a richly documented history of women’s struggles, including court records and case studies conducted by the social work department at Bryn Mawr College. “I was drawn to Philadelphia because I found sources that allowed me to tell a detailed, on-the-ground story, one that centers on the experiences of women not as victims but as actors,” she said. “They participated in shaping the history of this period.”
“A Movement Without Marches,” 300 pages, is published by The University of North Carolina Press.
