Women, Schooling, and Labor Force Participation, 1900–1920: Some Reflections on the Use of Quantification in Social History

T h a t B i t c h g o d d e s s , QUANTIFICATION! c r i e d s o c i a l and i n t e l l e c t u a l h i s t o r i a n C a r l B r idenbaugh i n h i s 1962 p r e s i d e n t a l address t o t h e Amer ican H i s t o r i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n . ! The memory o f h i s e x c l a m a t i o n rang t h r o u g h my ea rs as I read t h e p a p e r , Women, S c h o o l i n g , and Labor Force P a r t i c i p a t i o n . But t h e n I paused—wonder i ng—wha t was i t t h a t so c h a l l e n g e d my h i s t o r i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e when I read t h i s paper by P r o f e s s o r Rury? Wh i l e u n d e r s t a n d i n g and s y m p a t h e t i c t o t h e conce rns o f many o f my f e l l o w h i s t o r i a n s , i t seems t h a t many o f t h e r e c e n t c r i t i q u e s o f q u a n t i f i c a t i o n have f a l l e n w ide o f t h e mark. My conce rn i s n o t t h a t o f P e t e r Loewenberg who charged t h a t q u a n t i t a t i v e methods are . . . ego synt o n i c f o r p e r s o n a l i t i e s who need e m o t i o n a l de fenses a g a i n s t e x p e r i e n c e . 2 N e i t h e r do I t h i n k t h a t my conce rns are d e f i n e d by C. Vann Woodward, one o f our l e a d i n g Amer ican i n t e l l e c t u a l h i s t o r i a n s , who obse rved : . . . t r a d i t i o n a l h i s t o r i a n s have r e a c t e d d e f e n s i v e l y and b e l l i g e r e n t l y [when ] c o n f r o n t e d w i t h e q u a t i o n s t h e y canno t r e a d , w i t h t e c h n i q u e s t h e y canno t u n d e r s t a n d , [ a n d ] w i t h c o p i o u s d a t a beyond t h e i r comprehens ion . They see t h e i r a u t h o r i t y c h a l l e n g e d , t h e i r h u m a n i s t i c v a l u e s t h r e a t e n e d , t h e i r canons o f c r i t i c i s m r i d i c u l e d , and t h e i r c h e r i s h e d c l a s s i c s d e r i d e d as s o f t , i m p r e s s i o n i s t i c , and u n s c i e n t i f i c . I t i s n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t some o f them have o v e r r e a c t e d A l t h o u g h I am an h i s t o r i a n proud t o have been t r a i n e d in what nas v a r i o u s l y been d e s c r i b e d as s u b j e c t i v e , h u m a n i s t , o r q u a l i t a t i v e methods o f h i s t o r i c a l r e s e a r c h , I nave been e a g e r , n e v e r t h e l e s s , t o i n t e g r a t e q u a n t i t a t i v e methods i n a more m e a n i n g f u l f a s h i o n i n t o my r e s e a r c h me thodo logy . In d e v e l o p i n g t n e a n a l y s i s wh ich f o l l o w s I am i n d e b t e d t o some o u t s t a n d i n g s t a t i s t i c i a n s at my own