Exciting news! I am announcing my dissertation topic! It is one that not only fills gaps in existing historical research, but the topic is also one that will add to the field of study. I have been fortunate to have opportunities in my PhD journey to conduct a wealth of research that situates the topic in the bigger picture of historical time and place. Let me explain…
Famous lines, famous scenes, famous people – nearly everyone has experienced memorable things in the movies they have watched. Whether going to the theater or streaming them from home, movies are almost every person’s choice for entertainment. Beginning in the late-1890s movie goers have made the journey with the industry all the way to the present. From cinematographs and Nickelodeons in the early-1900s, to short actuaries with Vaudeville acts in between in the 1910s, to feature-length movies and the “talkies” in the 1920s – audiences rode the rollercoaster of silent movie evolution as loyal thrill seekers that kept coming back for more. What became a multibillion-dollar industry remains at the heart of human social entertainment today. What role did women play in the industry’s growth and development?
Margery Ordway, one of the first women camera operators of the silent
film era, c. 1916. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The men and women who worked in the industry did so for economic reasons or out of passion for the trade and as artistic outlet. Research shows when comparing the number of people who worked in the silent movie industry from the late-1890s through the advent of talking pictures in 1929 it was women who worked in greater numbers than men. Women gained financial success and independence while working in the industry. However, several studies either minimize or dismiss women’s roles in the industry and proclaim that men were responsible for founding the industry. What was women’s collective labor impact on the industry?
Lois Weber with Anna Pavlova on the set of The Dumb Girl of Portici, 1916. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Data show that the numbers of women in the movie industry and its connected businesses were underreported, and their combined contributions impacted all aspects of the movie making world. In addition to working in all jobs of filmmaking, women represented the largest group of moviegoers in the 1910s and 1920s. They were the largest group buying and reading fan and industry magazines. Women were also the largest consumer group buying products that were advertised in those magazines or by the movie stars who endorsed them. Women’s economic involvement through consumerism suggests that the industry was a legitimate one. In other words, the silent movie industry could have been built and legitimized through an economy of women. What is meant by “an economy of women”?
Dorothy Arzner (director) & Clara Bow on the set of The Wild Party, c. 1929. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
An “economy of women” means the collective economic participation and activity of women – including their access to employment, income levels, control over resources, and influence in economic decision-making. Use of this term essentially cues researchers to analyze how women contributed to and are impacted by the overall economy or economy of an industry – in this instance the economy of the American silent movie industry between 1900 and 1929. An economy of women also includes consideration of factors like gender pay gaps and barriers to entrepreneurship they might have faced. This brings us to the dissertation topic through this question: Was the silent movie industry built and legitimized through an economy of women?
Actor, producer, director, and film company owner Mary Pickford, c. 1916.
Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Am I qualified for this work? The work this dissertation will seek to find is if it was, indeed, an economy of women who built and legitimized the silent movie industry. The topic raises several unanswered questions from my research in previous courses. I have had the opportunity to research and create papers and other projects related to women’s work in the silent movie industry – some of which are displayed here on this blog site. I will also be doing work on women in the industry in my upcoming internship. These works will well-equip and qualify me to take on this topic for dissertation study.
Actor-Director May Allison (left) and historian Helen Taft Manning (right, daughter of President Taft), c. 1921.
Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
What is my methodology? This study will use a women's economic and labor lens as it pertains to Progressive Era America. In addition to books, articles, and online sources, spending time with the archives at the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills, California, and at the UCLA Film and Television Archive in Los Angeles, California, will likely help with the dissertation research. Of most value will be financial and accounting records that can shed light on the economic contributions of women, or other personal correspondence and industry documents on the topic. Other economic information that helps tell the story lives in U.S. Census records between 1900 and 1930 on women working in the industry – even though many of the positions in the industry were not named until the 1920 Census.
Blanche Sewell made a career as a film cutter and editor for MGM studios from
1920-1949. Photo courtesy Columbia Women Film Pioneers Project.
Why is a dissertation on this topic important? Many sources have cited the need for further research to help understand the importance of gender groups of our historical past. The range and roles that specific genders play in society, in different historical periods and context, and with different persons, places, and events is crucial in discovering the meanings and implications those gendered groups had in maintaining social order or promoting its change. However, most importantly – as of now, there is no study that encompasses an overall look at women’s cumulative work in the silent movie industry’s foundation.
June Mathis (c. 1920s) wrote or co-wrote over 114 movies and was the first female studio executive in early
Hollywood. Photo courtesy Columbia Women Film Pioneers Project.
Why does a dissertation on this topic matter? Feminist historians and women scholars have consistently mentioned studies that center on women not only add new topics for study but also force critical reexaminations of existing scholarly studies. This dissertation provides an opportunity for discovering new meanings and information regarding gender within the areas of the silent movie industry. It also allows for a reexamination of the foundation and validation of the silent movie industry to fill existing gaps – or set the record straight – in its historical narrative.
Follow along here as I dive into my dissertation journey!
