Who Led in the Golden Age of Civil Society?: Evidence from Voluntary Associations in Iowa, 1915

Adam Chamberlain, Coastal Carolina University
Alixandra Yanus, High Point University

Social scientists have studied the roles of large, federated voluntary associations in shaping American life during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. But systematic evidence comparing the state and local leaders who helped these associations prosper is largely missing. Here, we leverage 1915 Iowa State Census data to learn more about the demographic profiles of state and local association leaders. We emphasize several characteristics important to engagement in civil society—occupation/income, level of education, religious affiliation, and marital status. Comparisons of these attributes across several prominent organizations, including the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Free and Accepted Masons, suggest that scholars need to more carefully consider leaders’ backgrounds to better understand the degree to which these associations represented society. These findings are therefore valuable to scholars of these eras across the social sciences.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 71. Civil Society and the Welfare State