Early American Women's Shakespeare Reading Clubs

It is rare that an academic read with hundreds of references is also a "page turner," but "She Hath Been Reading" manages to merit that distinction. "She Hath Been Reading: Women and Shakespeare Clubs in America" (SHBR hereafter) by Catherine West Scheil is a historical analysis of the women's Shakespeare club movement in the United States which flourished, approximately, from 1880 to 1940. She is simultaneously analytic, critical (in the literary sense), and sympathetic to a movement which resulted in over five hundred social clubs dedicated, to some degree, to reading and explicating the works of the Bard of Avon.

She tackles head-on the question: Why would mostly married women across the nation, from Anaheim to Zanesville, from California to Maine, from Minnesota to Mississippi devote time and effort to reading, debating, discussing, and critiquing Shakespeare's works? Her answer? You'll have to read SHBR to find out.

SHBR consists of introductory materials, four numbered chapters, an appendix which lists the five-hundred-plus clubs which have been created, and the references. Each of the numbered chapters considers a different aspect of the central question: Why Shakespeare clubs? I found Chapter Four to be the most fascinating of the numbered chapters. In it Scheil addresses Black women's clubs with a focus on Shakespeare. A factoid which fascinated me was that in 1893 in Kansas there was a statewide conference of Black women's clubs which included presentations of Shakespeare study groups.

SHBR also explains that while the focus was on the intellectual development of the club members there was also a strong component of feminist and social activism. For example, SHBR notes that many public libraries, including the public library of Dallas, Texas, were founded by Shakespeare clubs within the communities. Other clubs funded scholarships for women to allow them to be academics.

In summary, if you are interested in learning about a quintessential American movement with a feminist component while experiencing a "good read" I highly recommend "She Hath Been Reading: Women and Shakespeare Clubs in America" by Catherine West Scheil.