Ruth CrockerRuth Crocker

Professor of History

Education:  Oxford (St. Anne’s College), B.A., M.A. (Oxon.)
                    Purdue, M.A., 1975;  Ph.D., 1982

Professional Career:

Professor of History at Auburn University (2002 – Present);  Alumni Professor (2001-2006);  Associate Professor (1993 – 2001); Assistant Professor (1988-1993);  Visiting assistant Professor (temporary) 1983 – 1988); Visiting assistant Professor of History, Purdue University, (1982-1983)

Director of Auburn Women’s Studies Program, 1989 – 1991; 2005 –2011

Areas of Research and Teaching

United States History, 1865 – 1930. Gender, class, and ethnicity in U.S. history and historiography; critical history of social work and social welfare, including reform, voluntarism, settlement houses; philanthropy and foundations; charity and the cultural history of the gift. Feminist biography. Historiography and theory; disability history.

 

SagePublications: Books

Digital publication, "Margaret Olivia (Mrs. Russell) Sage Digital Collection. Auburn University Libraries Digital Collections.

http://diglib.auburn.edu/collections/sage

Brings together a selection of significant documentary evidence for the life and career of New York philanthropist "Mrs. Russell Sage" (1828-1918), including correspondence, memoranda, and other unpublished material, as well as photographs, collected from thirty-three archives in the northeast, especially New York.

Mrs. Russell Sage: Women’s Activism and Philanthropy in Gilded Age and Progressive Era America. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2006; paperback edition 2008
Reviewed for H-SHGAPE by Sidney R. Bland, Department of History, James Madison University.
Reviewed by Stanley Katz in Chronicle of Higher Education, February 2007

What Reviewers Wrote

Social Work and Social Order:  The Settlement Movement in Two Industrial Cities, 1889-1930. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992.

Max Kelly and Ruth Crocker, ed. Sydney Takes Shape: A Collection of Contemporary Maps from Foundation to Federation.  Sydney: The Macleay Museum Press, University of Sydney, 1977.

 

Other Publications:

"'She Sees No-One': The Feminist Biographer Reads Disability," for <u>Historical Biography,</u> submitted February 2012

"His Absent Presence: The Amazing Widowhood of Margaret Olivia Sage," in <u>Women on Their Own: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Being Single,</u> ed. Rudolph M. Bell and Virginia yans. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2008, Paperback edition, 2010

Social"'Cultural and Intellectual Life in the Gilded Age,” in The Gilded Age: Perspectives on the Origins of Modern America. Ed. Charles W. Calhoun.  Second edition, Rowman and Littlefield, 2007: 211-238

"'Nothing More For Men's Colleges': The Educational Philanthropy of Mrs. Russell Sage," in Women and Philanthropy in Education, Andrea Walton, ed. Bloomington, In:  Indiana University Press, 2004

"Philanthropy," Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and Policy. Alice O'Connor and Gwendolyn Mink, eds. New York: ABC CLIO, 2004

"From Gift to Foundation: The Philanthropic Lives of Mrs. Russell Sage," in Charity, Philanthropy and Civility in American History, Lawrence Friedman and Mark McGarvey, eds. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002: 199-216.

 "Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (1828-1918)," Notable American Philanthropists: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002

"Margaret Olivia Slocum, 'Mrs. Russell Sage': Private Griefs and Public Duties," in Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives: Women in American History, ed. Kriste Lindenmeyer (Scholarly Resources, 2000): 147-59

"Jane Addams,”  8-9; "Settlement Houses”: 699-700; "Social Work," all in The Oxford Companion to American History ed., Paul Boyer. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000: 730-31

"'I Only Ask You Kindly To Divide Some of Your Fortune With Me': Begging Letters and the Transformation of Charity in Late Nineteenth-Century America." Social Politics (Oxford University Press), Summer 1999: 131-160

 "Ida Maud Cannon," (1877-1960) for American National Biography, John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, 24 vols. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 4: 332-334

Ruth Crocker"The History of Philanthropy as Life-History: A Biographer's View of Mrs. Russell Sage," in Ellen Lagemann, ed., Philanthropic Foundations: New Scholarship, New Possibilities. Indiana University Press, 1999: 318-328

"Unsettling Perspectives: The Settlement Movement, the Rhetoric of Social History and the Search for Synthesis," in Jeff Cox and Shelton Stromquist, eds., Contesting the Master Narrative: Essays in Social History. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1998: 179-205

"From Widow's Mite to Widow's Might: The Philanthropy of Margaret Olivia Sage," Journal of Presbyterian History 74 (Winter 1996): 253-64

"Flanner House," "Immigrants Aid Association," Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, ed., Robert Barrow. Indiana Univ. Press, 1994
"The Settlements: Social Work, Culture, and Ideology in the Progressive Era," History of Education Quarterly, 31, (Summer 1991) (Review Essay)

"Christamore:  An Indiana Settlement House, From Private Dream to Public Agency," Indiana Magazine of History, 83, (June 1987): 113-40
"The Victorian Poor Law in Crisis and Change:  Southampton, 1870-1895," Albion, 19 (Spring 1987): 19-44

"Gary Mexicans and 'Christian Americanization'; A Study in Cultural Conflict," in James B. Lane and Edward J. Escobar, eds., Forging a Community:  The Latino Experience in Northwest Indiana,1919-1975 (Chicago: Calumet Regional Studies Series, 1987):  115-34

"Making Charity Modern:  Business and the Reform of Charities in Indianapolis, 1879-1930," Business and Economic History, Second Series, 12 (1984): 158-70 

Ruth CrockerAwards, Honors, and Fellowships

2001 - 2006  Alumni Professorship, Auburn University

2005    Robert Reid Outstanding Graduate Professor, Department of History, Auburn

2001    Humanities Achievement Award, College of Liberal Arts

1998    Spaulding Award, Presbyterian Historical Society for, "From Widow's Mite to Widow's Might." Journal of Presbyterian History 74 (1996): 253-64

1996       NEH summer seminar grant,  Rutgers University, "Grace, Luck, and Fortune in American Cultural History," seminar director, Jackson Lears

1996-97  Indiana University Center on Philanthropy Research Grant

1992       NEH Travel to Collections Grant

1992      NEH Fellowship, Scholars' Workshop on the Rhetoric of Social History, University of Iowa Project on the Rhetoric of Inquiry (POROI). Eight awarded nationally.

1992      Nominated one of Auburn's Outstanding Female Faculty and Administrators by the Panhellenic Council

1992       NEH Travel to Collections Grant

1991       Award for Outstanding Service to Auburn University Women's Studies

1983       Lewis Schneider Dissertation Award, Purdue University

1983       Second Year Exhibition, St. Anne's College, Oxford

1981-82   Indiana Historical Society Dissertation Fellowship

1978-80   David Ross Graduate Fellowship, Purdue

Grants from Auburn University included Research grants-in-aid; research travel grants from the Office of the Vice President; Humanities Endowment Fund awards; and Summer research grants from the College of Liberal Arts. 

 

GildedPresentations


"When Gifts Speak - What Do They Say?" Auburn University College of Liberal Arts, Nineteenth Century Interdisciplinary Studies Workshop, October 15, 2011

"My Digital Year: From Book to Website": Discover Auburn Series, RDB Library, Auburn University, February 10, 2011

“Margaret Olivia Sage: Forgotten New York Philanthropist,” Herbert Lehman Center for American History, Columbia University, New York, N.Y., April 20, 2007

“Tales From the Archives: Writing the Life of Margaret Olivia Sage,” Ralph Brown Draughon Library, Meet the Author Series, Auburn University, March 20, 2007.

Invited speaker, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., “’You Cannot But Admire Her Desire to Suppress Herself’: Writing the Life of Margaret Olivia Sage,” March 14, 2007

Invited participant, The Widow’s Might Conference, Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, Rutgers University, April 1-3, 2004

Women’s History Month speaker, “J. Marion Sims, The Woman’s Hospital, and the Ironies of Women’s History,” Ralph Brown Draughon Library, Auburn University, March 11, 2004

"Women's Citizenship: Historical Reflections," Women's History Month keynote speaker, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, April 21, 2002

"From Gift to Foundation: The Philanthropic Lives of Margaret Olivia Sage," invited lecture, Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, Indianapolis; The Poynter Center on American Values, Indiana University, December 6, 2001

"Women's History: Looking Back at the Twentieth Century," Tennessee State University, Distinguished Lecture Series, March 7, 2001, Nashville, TN.

"Modes of Giving: Transitions and Elisions in the Philanthropy of Mrs. Russell Sage," Rockefeller Archive Center and CUNY Graduate School, New York City, September 25-26, 2000

"Begging Letters and the Transformation of Charity in Late Nineteenth-Century America." Center on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Associations, Yale University, February 16, 1999 

"Writing the History of Philanthropy as Life-History: A Biographer's View of Mrs. Russell Sage," Conference, Philanthropy in History, Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, Indianapolis, September 26, 1997

"Women in World War II," Alabama Humanities Foundation Conference on World War II, Auburn University, January 1993

"Looking for Mrs. Sage," and "Margaret Olivia Sage and Higher Education for Women," Russell Sage College, Troy, N.Y., March 16-17, 1994

"Stewart Settlement House," Founder's Day, Delaney Memorial United Methodist Church, Gary, Indiana, October 23, 1993 

 

Conference Papers and Participation

Participation (paper-giver or commentator) at 40 conferences. 

Book Reviews

Kevin Murphy. Political Manhood: Red-Bloods, Mollycoddles, and the Politics of Progressive Era Reform. (Columbia). The Historian 33, 1 (Spring 2011): 155-157

Laura Westhoff. A Fatal Drifting Apart: Democratic Social Knowledge and Chicago Reform (Ohio State). Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 8: 1(January 2009): 150-153

Louise Knight. Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy (Chicago, 2005), The Historian, 70, 2 (Summer 2008): 333-335

David Wagner. The Poorhouse: America’s Forgotten Institution. Journal of American History (September 2006): 561-562

Sherri Broder. Tramps, Unfit Mothers, and Neglected Children (2002), Journal of American History (June 2003): 249-50.

Alice O'Connor, Poverty Knowledge (2001), American Historical Review (June 2002).

Susan Estrich, Sex and Power. Riverhead Books, 2000. The Women's Review of Books (June 2001).

Kathleen Waters Sander, The Business of Charity: The Woman's Exchange Movement, 1832-1900. University of Illinois Press, 1998, Journal of American History (March 2000): 1806-7

Rickie Solinger, The Abortionist, Women's Review of Books, 12     (January 1995): 1-4

22 other book reviews

 

Professional Activities

Editorial Board member, Journal of the History of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (JGAPE), 2000-2006

NEH Proposal reviewer, 1999-

Member, Advisory Board, Encyclopedia of Philanthropy, 1999-2000

Editorial Board member, H-SAWH/Southern Association of Women Historians, 1996-

Program co-chair, Gender Network, Social Science History Association Program Committee, 1995-96 meeting

Member, Book Prize Committee for the Rose Prize and Spruill Prize, Southern Association of Women Historians, 1995

Chair, Article Prize Committee, Society for the History of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (SHGAPE), 1993-95

Reader-evaluator, NEH Summer Seminar on Biography, March 1994

Program chair, Gender Network, Social Science History Association Program Committee, 1993 -94

Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Hayes Historical Journal, 1993

Nominated for a Three-Year term to the Council, Society for the

History of the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, March 1991 (SHGAPE)

Article Prize Committee Member, Society for the History of the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era (SHGAPE), 1992

Member, Social Science History Association Ad Hoc Committee on Status of Women, 1981 -1983

 

Dr. Ruth Crocker
Professor of History
310 Thach Hall
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama 36849
phone: 334 844-6647
fax: 334 844-6673
crockrc@auburn.edu

Auburn Women's Studies Program website: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/other/womens_studies/