Commander, Lydia Kingsmill; The American Idea : Does the national tendency toward a small family point to race suicide or race development?; New York: A S Barnes 1907. 1st Edition. xii, 335, 5 ad pages. Hardcover
American History - 20th Century Immigrant Americans Demography - United States Race Suicide American Culture - 20th Century Social History Women And Work Feminism Women's Studies Role of Women Family Size
Very Good-/noDJ. Library spine numbering/slip/pocket, owner's bookplate, newspaper articles glued to front free endpaper and half-title page, random text soil, light edgewear, otherwise light wear. Solid hardcover.
Custom ex-libris of Monsignor Joseph M. Gleason (1869-1942), a Californian Catholic priest, educationalist, historian and collector of books and photographs. Lydia Kingsmill Commander was a Canadian-born journalist, minister, and activist who worked mainly in the United States. She addresses the turn-of-the-century concern of "race suicide", that smaller families among middle and upper class Americans, in contrast to larger families among the poor and recent immigrants, would lead to a social decline. "According to The American Idea, "the American race" was "disappearing" because Americans did not have enough children. The book was part of a trend in American writing around the turn of the 20th century in which advocates argued that the "American race" should be preserved against malign influences and that the United States was risking "race suicide" through increased immigration. In addition to its arguments about population, The American Idea argued that the divorce rate would be reduced if Americans adopted what Commander called a "marriage of equality", which she distinguished from a "tribal marriage"." - Wikipedia. An interesting Progressive Era examination by an active feminist and suffragette on the social changes toward family and the role of women in the United States, leading to demographic change that may be destructive to American society.

Very Good-/noDJ. Library spine numbering/slip/pocket, owner's bookplate, newspaper articles glued to front free endpaper and half-title page, random text soil, light edgewear, otherwise light wear. Solid hardcover.

7.5 x 5 x 1.5 in

1.06 lb