George Washington and the Ladies of Trenton: The New Jersey Women Who Feted a Hero and Then Disappeared from History.
In April 1789, a group of mostly upper-class women welcomed George Washington to Trenton with a commemorative ode, a festive arch, and a banner that proclaimed, "The Defender of the Mothers will also Protect their Daughters." Although historians and visual artists have typically interpreted this occ...
| Published in: | Early American Studies, An Interdisciplinary Journal Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 326 - 357 |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
University of Pennsylvania Press
Summer2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=187285781&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 187285781 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 15434273 00N jtl: Early American Studies, An Interdisciplinary Journal issn: 15434273 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Summer2025 vid: 23 iid: 3 pid: 4636 pub: University of Pennsylvania Press artinfo: ui: 187285781 10.1353/eam.2025.a966975 ppf: 326 ppct: 31 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 4.7MB tig: atl: George Washington and the Ladies of Trenton: The New Jersey Women Who Feted a Hero and Then Disappeared from History. aug: au: Kierner, Cynthia A. affil: George Mason University su: Women in war Collective memory Artists Upper class Political change Washington, George, 1732-1799 American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783 Trenton (N.J.) sug: subj: Trenton (N.J.) Women in war Collective memory Artists Upper class Political change Washington, George, 1732-1799 American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783 keyword: American Revolution Arches Civic rituals Continental Army Currier and Ives George Washington Memory N.J. Rape Trenton War Women and politics Women and social life Women and war ab: In April 1789, a group of mostly upper-class women welcomed George Washington to Trenton with a commemorative ode, a festive arch, and a banner that proclaimed, "The Defender of the Mothers will also Protect their Daughters." Although historians and visual artists have typically interpreted this occasion as a generic celebration of Washington's famed military and political achievements, these women commemorated something more specific—and less widely known. In 1776 and 1777, General Washington had publicly denounced rapes committed by the British and their allies in southern New Jersey and ordered his own troops to show "humanity and tenderness to women and children." In honoring Washington, this ceremony, with its carefully worded banner, referenced women's war experience and the poignantly intimate meaning of Washington's status as their "defender" and "protector." Washington and his contemporaries acknowledged the intended meaning of this unique welcome. In the changing political climate of the early Republic, however, historical memory elided the women and their message, making representations of the Trenton reception less about them and almost entirely about Washington. In April 1789, a group of mostly upper-class women welcomed George Washington to Trenton with a commemorative ode, a festive arch, and a banner that proclaimed, "The Defender of the Mothers will also Protect their Daughters." Although historians and visual artists have typically interpreted this occasion as a generic celebration of Washington's famed military and political achievements, these women commemorated something more specific—and less widely known. In 1776 and 1777, General Washington had publicly denounced rapes committed by the British and their allies in southern New Jersey and ordered his own troops to show "humanity and tenderness to women and children." In honoring Washington, this ceremony with its carefully worded banner referenced women's war experience and the poignantly intimate meaning of Washington's status as their "defender" and "protector." Washington and his contemporaries acknowledged the intended meaning of this unique welcome. In the changing political climate of the early Republic, however, historical memory elided the women and their message, making representations of the Trenton reception less about them and almost entirely about Washington. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Early American Studies, An Interdisciplinary Journal is the property of University of Pennsylvania Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Early American Studies, An Interdisciplinary Journal holder: University of Pennsylvania Press dt: @attributes: year: 2025 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|