The beginning of the twentieth century brought enormous changes to Western Civilization. Industrialization had challenged and changed the traditional social order and shaken up traditional gender roles. The New Woman became a feminist ideal in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that would impact the women’s movement well into the twentieth century.

The term “New Woman” may be traced to writer Sarah Grand in her article “The New Aspect of the Woman Question,” published in the North American Review in March 1894. The New Woman was a well-educated, independent, adventurous woman with a career. She espoused feminist views and pushed the boundaries of traditional roles in a male-dominated society. She often remained unmarried or childless–finding marriage and children too confining. If she did have children, she dominated the household with new ideas about child-rearing and household management.

The early twentieth century saw an expansion of educational and professional opportunities for women. Women won the right to attend colleges and universities–becoming lawyers, doctors, professors, and journalists. In 1920, women gained the right to vote in the United States, while in Britain, women of property gained voting rights in 1918, with full female suffrage coming in 1928. The New Woman sought autonomy in all aspects of her life: social, political, economic, and sexual.

The adventurous women highlighted in this exhibition: Mary Hannah Krout, Georgia Elizabeth Finley, Rebecca West, and Emily Hahn may all be considered “New Women” who took full advantage of the opportunities life offered them in the early years of the twentieth century: each of them traveled, wrote, lived, and experienced the world in ways that made them not only New Women, but Adventurous Women, as well.

Adventurous Women: A Select Bibliography