Explore the progressive mindset and motivations of women activists who defied social norms of feminine behavior at the dawn of the 20th century and expressed themselves through their clothing and accessories. Historian Dr. Einav Rabinovitch-Fox and Museum assistant curator Claire McRee investigate the art, history, and themes behind New Century, New Woman.
This is a recording of the LIVE program which aired on November 19, 2020.
Dr. Einav Rabinovitch-Fox
Dr. Einav Rabinovitch-Fox teaches courses in American culture and history at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. Her research examines the intersections between fashion, gender, politics, and modernity, and she extensively published on these topics in academic journals and popular venues. Her forthcoming book, Dressed for Freedom: The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism, examines how women used fashion to express political and gender identities and to promote feminist agendas during the twentieth century.
Claire McRee
Claire McRee is the assistant curator at the Allentown Art Museum, and the curator of the exhibition New Century, New Woman. She received her MA from the Bard Graduate Center in decorative arts, design history, and material culture, where she received the Horowitz Foundation for the Arts Award for her thesis, “The Debutante Slouch: Fashion and the Female Body in the United States, 1912-1925.” Her areas of specialty include clothing and textiles and the social history of gender, especially as it relates to posture, movement, and the body.