Almost back to the diss

Well, with the second of the fellowship applications drafted, and the first due on Wednesday, I'm almost back to working on the dissertation. And a good thing too- I'm hoping to have the chapter drafted by the time I leave for Thanksgiving break, and there's much to be done between now and then! Among them is still a lot of the database to be completed. It feels very good to be back in primary sources again, though, rather than having to deal with yet another iteration of the prospectus.

So, with hope for much more progress on the chapter this week, I'll sign off with a quote from Clelia Mosher about fatigue:

"Fatigue: Dr. Hodge has shown that there is an actual using up of the cell substance in the brains of bees and swallows during the day’s activities. The exhausted cells, rested and fed, were seen to return to apparently normal condition. I take it that these studies suggest what proper periods of rest and proper food alternated with suitable activity may do for woman. The tendency to burn the candle at both ends, to cut short period of rest and sleep, to hurry with our omit meals, to increase unduly the periods of activity, means simply taking away the time needed for the restoration of the cell substance used up by the legitimate activities of the day. The disregard of regular habits of eating and sleeping means ultimately, for the woman who habitually ignores these requirements, nervous bankruptcy."

(Clelia Duel Mosher, The Health and the Woman Movement The Woman's Press, 1918) p 40-41.

Fellowship schmellowship

So I've been spending tremendous amounts of time over the past week writing a fellowship application. It's a process that is both very interesting and boring/depressing. Interesting in the sense that I get to think of the diss in the context of a specific field (so as to pitch the application to those who will be examining it). This also means that I get to look up books which might be relevant and should be included in my bibliography, a task which is usually fun. The boring/depressing part is trying to figure out what the committee wants in the proposal, as though there were some magic phrase that would make them award their big prestigious fellowship to me (as opposed to the 500 others who will apply, of which about 30 will get fellowships). It basically means intensely crafting 2000 words, or about 9 pages, wherein I have to fit: a summary of the diss, how it relates to their fellowship, my methodology and sources, and why it's imperative that they give the fellowship to me. It's a lot to cram in, and so every word counts.

And that's probably the most annoying bit. That I don't actually like trying to say lots in a small space. It's like wearing shoes that are too tight- you can do some stuff in them, but not the fun stuff (I want to wiggle my theoretical toes :) which takes space). Fortunately I'm done with the first draft, and will send it off to my advisor for comments. Unfortunately, I have another application to do, although since my diss fits in better with the other, hopefully it won't be as tortuous. If these things weren't very large amounts of money, I wonder if I'd bother- probably not, since I seem to generally get more done when I have job. But, it looks awfully good on the CV.

On the more positive note, as I was looking for books I found two which will be lots of fun to read. One is on the early Salvation Army, and the other is on the construction of social welfare space in the Progressive Era. The latter will, I hope, explain lots of things that I'll need for the second chapter, on dormitories and how physical spaces were designed and used. She deals with the YW, but also several other settlement-type houses, which I've seen in some of the personnel files.

On a non-dissertation note, I'm also in the process of getting a kerosene heater from the 1930's up and running- or at least finding out more about it. It's a "Perfection" model 1630. It's a very pretty dark robin's egg blue, and looks a bit like a small pot-belly stove. I've found someone on e-bay who sells both replacement wicks and manuals (which he wrote) for them, so hopefully with a good cleaning and a new wick (and some kerosene, which I'll need to find), it will work well. I was working at my computer when a man in the neighborhood who has a Ford Model T type car went driving by. It was a good day for it- dry, warm, and sunny, but a bit surreal to look up from my computer and see someone putting along in a Model T. I hope the weather holds a bit, as I'm planning to use the heater out on my patio.

Since I haven't done much in the way of archival stuff this week, we're back to Marjorie Hillis for this weeks quote from my notes:
(under the chapter heading "Etiquette for a Lone Female"):
"Question: How late is it proper for a woman living alone to entertain a man friend, and how can she get him to go at the correct time?

Answer: The correct time depends on the lady and also on the time of arrival. Ten-forty-five P.M. might seem scandalous to your Aunt Hattie, and three-thirty A.M. be disconcertingly early to the girl on the floor below. In either case, the time the man arrived should be a factor. No call should turn into an endurance test, and four or five hours of being a perfect listener will make any hostess feel like a runner-up in a nine-days' bicycle race.

As far as propriety goes, a man might come in for dinner and stay long enough to take the milk in, and no offense to anyone. (This, we admit, is improbable.) Or it might be time for him to go after the first highball.

How to get rid of him depends entirely on your type. However, before making the attack, it's a good idea to decide whether you want him to go for good or merely for the occasion. In the first instance, it's a simple matter. Just tell him so in good plain English. (This will sometimes work in the second instance; but you must be sure of your man.)

If you want him to come again soon, a little tact is usually wiser. You might begin with, 'Let me get you a glass of water (nothing stronger)- it's hours since you had that highball.' This will get you both up and give you the advantage. you can keep on standing, which will eventually wear down any man (if you don't drop first).

There is little danger that you will have to call the elevator man or open the window and scream. It may happen, but don't get your hopes up. You have to be pretty fascinating." (p. 48-49)

Currently resenting the need to sleep

There's just too much to do these days! Between the data entry (I'm almost up to 500- yes, that is indeed how slow progress is), transcribing/analyzing the other primary sources I've got, working out the outline of the chapter, writing fellowship applications, and sneaking in the yard work it's warm enough (at this very moment at least) to do, there just aren't enough hours in the day to sleep! And since you all know me, you all know I need my sleep. Thank goodness there aren't any students coming in to my job at the moment, and I can work on the diss- I need all the extra hours I can get.

Despite all this whining, though, it's going pretty well- I've come across a second person who was killed in the Kobe earthquake, greater confirmation that the women who went abroad didn't have fathers to stop them, and that lots were Presbyterians and Methodists (interesting because I'm pretty sure both churches had foreign missions of their own). I also came across some fantastic quotes, one of which I've put below.

With writing the fellowship proposals- one for education and one for religion/ethics, I've been thinking a bit about the diss in general in those contexts, which is a nice thing at the moment. In terms especially of the latter, I've been getting to know a bit more about Pentecostalism from a transnational perspective- some interesting historical connections, particularly with the idea of speaking in tongues. Unfortunately there isn't that much on Agnes Hill, the one who came from here and went to India and eventually became Pentecostal, but I've been slowly tracking down what there is.

On that note, I'll leave you with this quote from my notes. It comes from a Foreign Secretaries Survey that the YW did in the early 1930's, as sort of a state of the profession. This is the last question, and the committee's summary and comment:

"What three or four distinctive qualifications, if any, do you believe necessary for the secretaryship abroad?

Adaptability, flexibility; creative imagination, resourcefulness, originality, initiative; open mindedness and appreciation of those who differ; extra amount of courtesy, tact and patience; adventuresomeness and enjoyment of new experiences; good health and energy, willingness not to be in the forefront; broad cultural and educational background; successful experience in this country; statesmanship and international viewpoint, knowledge of the Y.W.C.A. commitment to it; a well thought out philosophy of life very necessary; mental, spiritual and emotional balance; spiritual resources and a deep religious life (The frequency with which the last two are mentioned suggest the need for a psychiatric examination)." (US YWCA National Board Microfilm, Reel 112)