Alexandra M. Nickliss

Bio: Alexandra M. Nickliss is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Power (social and political). The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 7 citations.

Phoebe Apperson Hearst's Gospel of Wealth, 1883––1901

Abstract: In response to the critics who charged that his money was tainted, Andrew Carnage devised an ideology that came to be known as the "Gospel of Wealth." Carnegie's "gospel" mostly helped the ambitious, young white men. But wealthy women like Phoebe Apperson Hearst also played a major role in redefining the "Gospel of Wealth." The goal of this article is to define and explain Hearst's "gospel" and show how it made her the complementary equal of such men as Carnegie. Hearst's "gospel" declared that leisure women had a sacred duty to give to causes, especially progressive education and reform, that would benefit their communities and help those excluded or marginalized from America's mainstream, as well as advance these women's careers as reformers and political leaders. While Hearst's approach helped those left out by Carnegie's style of philanthropy, namely women, it also was a reasoned but intuitive plan to advance her career and status, silence her critics, obtain and wield the power to define political issues, and realize reform goals. As such, Phoebe Apperson Hearst became the complementary equal of prominent, powerful men like Andrew Carnegie.

The History of Philanthropy in Higher Education: A Distinctively Discontinuous Literature

Abstract: This essay is organized chronologically and thematically to provide an introduction to the literature on the history of philanthropy in higher education. It focuses on pivotal moments and areas of particular interest. The chronological part begins by considering early writings on philanthropy—what can be called advocacy literature—and then discusses the pioneering academic writings that directly address the history of philanthropy in higher education. Because the relevant literature on the history of philanthropic action in higher education is dispersed across many genres, area studies, and institutional histories, the thematic sections of the essay focus on certain areas: insider accounts, foundations, biographies, black education, and histories of higher education. This essay characterizes the existing literature as “distinctively discontinuous” and calls for more sustained critical inquiry in all the areas of literature presented. In particular, given that foundations were the most powerful of philanthropies in the early development of the university in the United States, this essay calls for greater access to foundation records along with support for the study of foundation archives.

Practical Idealism: The Musical Patronage of Phoebe Apperson Hearst

Abstract: Phoebe Apperson Hearst, called “California's greatest woman” at her death in 1919, was very rich—and very philanthropic Despite attending school in rural Missouri only a year or so past the eighth grade, Hearst directed her most influential benefactions toward education, particularly for women She became a prime mover in the kindergarten movement and PTA, established women's scholarships at UC Berkeley, and was UC's first female regent This article, drawing on Hearst's extensive archive, describes music's role in her philanthropy She supported individual artists and ensembles, staged elaborate musicales at her various homes, funded music performing spaces, patronized renowned singers and instrumentalists, provided musical performances for college students and the general public, and encouraged the formation of an opera school As a female patron championing women's education, Hearst was caught between the conservative ideology of male–female “spheres” and the New Woman movement of the early twentieth century Her wealth allowed her to transcend old models; yet she was also conditioned by them, as shown in her attitudes toward women's suffrage and “proper” female behaviors By bolstering the traditional view of women as the culture-bearers in US society, Hearst's philanthropy functioned as both retrospective reinforcement and progressive idealism

Far More Than Dutiful Daughter: Milicent Shinn's Child Study and Education Advocacy After 1898.

Abstract: Previous scholarship on the life of psychologist Milicent Shinn (E Scarborough & L Furumoto, 1987 ) emphasized Shinn's failure to pursue an academic career in psychology following her PhD in 1898 Scarborough and Furumoto used Shinn as an example of "the family claim"-the career limitations women faced in terms of their family obligations This narrative, however, obscured Shinn's continued engagement with child study before and after her years in graduate school, as a recent article documenting Shinn's leadership of network of home-based observers of infant development makes clear (C von Oertzen, 2013 ) This article challenges the traditional retelling of Shinn's story still further, by exploring how Shinn used her professional contacts from her previous role as editor of the Overland Monthly to promote a wide range of causes related to child study and education Following G Lerner ( 1979 ), the author attends to Shinn's own values, such as her love of California, education, and her family These values suggest a much more positive evaluation of Shinn's life work and the domestic environment in which she conducted her research and advocacy work

Requiem for the College Women’s Gymnasium: Disciplining the Female Body in Educational and Architectural Space

Abstract: The women’s college gymnasium’s geographical, architectural and spatializing arrangements have historically been important ingredients in the social constitution of the gendered body. It ha...