A Little History of the Rural Women’s Studies Association. (RWSA)

Abstract

When the Rural Women’s Studies Association (RWSA) was formally established in Waco, Texas, in 1997, it had already existed informally for over a decade. The scholars who originally came together in the 1980s to study rural women were concerned that American historians had devoted little attention to these women, although they were the majority of the female population for the greater part of American history. The Agricultural History Society sponsored only one symposium each year, with no general conference where a wide assortment of historical issues could be discussed. The Social Science History Association had a rural section that presented a small forum for rural studies. What scholarship did exist at the time barely discussed rural women or gender issues. Regular conferences in history were unlikely to address the general lack of scholarly interest in rural history.