'Social intercession': The religious nature of public activism among American women reformers in Boston, 1892 to 1930

"Social Intercession" examines a cohort of female reformers in Boston, who were active primarily during the late 19th and early 20 th centuries. These women participated in many of the same organizations and dominated the local institutions of social reform, even as they professed a range of religious and political beliefs. Grounding their vision in the local community, these women were driven by a desire to remake Boston into a more just and Christian city. They positioned themselves at the intersection of citizens' private and the collective worlds, encouraging a democratic approach to solving urban vices and decay. They constructed a unique vision of Social Christianity, integrating Christian Socialism with the social philosophy of American women's college communities, the Arts and Crafts beliefs of England's greatest thinkers and the rich religious traditions of the European continent.;The project examines this vision of reform through the lens of biography. It examines the lives of Vida Scudder, an English professor from Wellesley College, and Katherine Conway, an editor and author of Catholic literature, as representatives of the group. These women shared a common ideology of reform based on an understanding of friendship as a powerful transformative spiritual force. This project explores the ways in which this ideology was constructed, implemented and transmitted to future generations. Using personal papers, organizational records, fiction, essays and other literature, it examines these women's work and participation in local organizations, including Denison House, the College Settlements Association, the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, and the League of the Sacred Heart Church of North Square. Friendship proved crucial to their mission, and ensured that their legacy would persist long after the disillusionment and disappointments of the 1920s and 1930s.;Following Scudder and Conway on their personal journeys, "Social Intercession" illuminates the broader trajectory of American social reform during the early twentieth century. It challenges existing historiography which segregates discussion of reformers by class, religion, and age and reintroduces the importance of spiritual belief in these women's professional and personal lives, suggesting that the trajectory of secularization was not as widespread nor as prevalent as assumed.