When the history of the Nineteenth Century comes to be written, women will appear as the organizers and leaders of great organized movements among their own sex for the first time in the history of the world.
Rise of Voluntary Societies

Brown, Richard D. "The Emergence of Voluntary Associations in Massachusetts, 1760-1830." The Journal of Voluntary Action Research 2 (1973): 64-73.

Voluntary Societies in Massachusetts
1760 1830
15 over 2500

associations for charity, missions, freemasons, fire protection, professional associations, pressure groups, moral reform, literary, advancement of knowledge, etc.

First associations were men only

1790s first Female Fragment Societies

1820s first mixed societies

Why?

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