Heterodoxy was the name adopted by a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

debating Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

group in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

, New York City, in the early 20th century. It was notable for providing a forum for the development of more radical conceptions of feminism than the

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and

women's club The club movement is an American women's social movement that started in the mid-19th century and spread throughout the United States. It established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While wome ...

movements of the time. The heterodoxy club was also known to be a space filled with people living remarkably diverse personal lives, allowing for women to congregate and talk about their experiences with one another in what was considered to be a safe space for conversation and change. The group was considered important in the origins of

American feminism Feminism is aimed at defining, establishing, and defending a state of equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women. It has had a massive influence on American politics. Feminism in the United States is often divided chron ...

History

Heterodoxy was founded in 1912 by Marie Jenney Howe, who specified only one requirement for membership: that the applicant "not be orthodox in his or her opinion". The club was formed on the basis of the motto: "The only taboo is taboo." The club's members had diverse political views, but used those differing views to focus on a multitude of different political and social issues centered around the rights of women. The membership also included bisexual and lesbian women, in addition to heterosexuals. The luncheon club, which started with 25 members, met every two weeks on Saturdays. Most of the women who belonged in the club were part of the generation born between the 1870-1880s, making this generation the first to emphasize women's rights. The club was disestablished in the 1940s. Group members referred to themselves as "Heterodites". Among the notable members were Mary Ware Dennett,

Susan Glaspell Susan Keating Glaspell (July 1, 1876 – July 28, 1948) was an American playwright, novelist, journalist and actress. With her husband George Cram Cook, she founded the Provincetown Players, the first modern American theatre company. First know ...

Charlotte Perkins Gilman Charlotte Anna Perkins Gilman (; née Perkins; July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935), also known by her first married name Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was an American humanist, novelist, writer, lecturer, early sociologist, advocate for social reform ...

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (August 7, 1890 – September 5, 1964) was an American labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Libe ...

Mary Heaton Vorse Mary Heaton Vorse (October 11, 1874 – June 14, 1966) was an American journalist and novelist with commitments to the labor and feminist movements. She established her reputation as a journalist reporting the labor protests of a largely female ...

and

Ida Rauh Ida Rauh (March 7, 1877 – February 28, 1970) was an American suffragist, actress, sculptor, and poet who helped found the Provincetown Players in 1915. The players, including Susan Glaspell, George Cram Cook, John Reed (journalist), John R ...

. Heterodites Alice Kimball, Alison Turnbull Hopkins,

Doris Stevens Doris Stevens (born Dora Caroline Stevens; October 26, 1888 – March 22, 1963) was an American suffragist, woman's legal rights advocate and author. She was the first female member of the American Institute of International Law and first chai ...

, and Paula Jakobi were arrested in 1917 and 1918 suffrage protests, and served time in the Occoquan Workhouse, jail, or prison psychiatric wards.

Grace Nail Johnson Grace Nail Johnson (February 27, 1885 – November 1, 1976) was an African-American civil rights activist and patron of the arts associated with the Harlem Renaissance, and wife of the writer and politician James Weldon Johnson. Johnson was the ...

was the only African American woman who belonged to Heterodoxy. Beatrice M. Hinkle was another notable Heterodite, adding credibility to the group by being its only trained psychoanalyst while also examining a subcategory of psychology called feminist psychology. Many non-members addressed the group, including

Helen Keller Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when ...

Margaret Sanger Margaret Sanger ( Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instr ...

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...

, and

Amy Lowell Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school. She posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. Life Amy Lowell was born on February 9, 1874, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughte ...

Heterodoxy In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek: , + , ) means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". ''Heterodoxy'' is also an ecclesiastical jargon term, defined in various ways by different religions and ...

meetings were valuable sources of information on the struggles for women's rights for its members. Although full of diverse lives and ideas, the women in the group were connected by their passion and desire to think unconventionally.

Activism

The Heterodoxy Club provided a safe space for activism to begin and progress, as it was the main feminist group in the early 20th century where diverse types of women could gather weekly to discuss their opinions on issues regarding women's rights while also reflecting on their diverse political views and personal lives with open minds. The majority of the members of the Heterodoxy had completed an undergraduate education, and many even pursued post-graduate degrees in fields including education, sociology, psychology, and law; moreover, their education arguably allowed them to be prepared to take stances on a multitude of women's rights issues while participating heavily in both political and social activism. Political activism within the club included members of the Heterodoxy fighting to ensure suffrage for all women, promoting the usage of birth control, and evaluating employment disparities between men and women. Social activism within the club revolved around the field of psychoanalysis, where members of the Heterodoxy examined Freudian ideas regarding psychosexual theories in order to form a branch of psychoanalysis that focused on feminism and the psychological disparities between women and men.

Political activism

The political activism of the Heterodoxy Club includes a wide variety of political women's rights issues, including ensuring suffrage, working to create and promote different types of contraceptives, advocating for mothers, advocating against war, fighting for equal work opportunities, and advocating for immigrants. Many had met as suffragist workers, some joining labor journalist

in the Woman Suffrage Party whose suffrage referendum in 1917 was to result in New York becoming the first eastern state to grant women the ballot. The club promoted and hosted many original members of the birth control movement, like Emma Goldman, Mary Ware Dennett, and Margaret Sanger. These non-official members of the Heterodoxy Club attended meetings in order to collect ideas from the Heterodites about how women would like to see different birth control forms being used in the future, discussing reproductive rights as a whole. The platform that the Heterodoxy Club gave these non-members played a role in Dennett's formation of the Volunteer Parenthood League and National Birth Control League and Sanger's ''The Birth Control Review,'' all contributing to the legalization of contraceptives''.'' Heterodites often advocated for mothers, providing mothers with psychological evaluations and assistance, sharing how motherhood impacts women's lives, and by pushing the idea that women are not only meant to be mothers, meaning that they have more skills than mothering and can be creative and work as well. Many members of the Heterodoxy Club identified themselves as pacifists, some in 1915 joining Chrystal Eastman, Vorse and others in forming the

Woman's Peace Party The Woman's Peace Party (WPP) was an American Pacifism, pacifist and First-wave feminism, feminist organization formally established in January 1915 in response to World War I. The organization is remembered as the first American peace organizatio ...

. Women in the Heterodoxy Club also fought for fair employment and fair wages, pushing women to get jobs and dismantling the idea that the man of the house needs to be the only one to provide financial support. Many women in the Heterodoxy Club also supported and advocated for immigrants, specifically immigrant mothers, by helping them find needed resources and reassuring them that their existence and their lives are legitimate.

Activism relating to the field of psychology

Psychoanalysis done by Beatrice M. Hinkle, a widely recognized member of the Heterodoxy Club, provided a way for the club to participate in social activism; moreover, this specifically includes activism within the field of psychology relating psychological differences between men and women based on self-realization and expression. Hinkle originally studied with

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

, but began to become wary of his ideas regarding psychosexual theories, as they sexualized women while also not considering them fully capable people. One of Freud's theories suggests that women are a part of the psyche of men which Hinkle heavily disagreed with, so she moved to create an area of psychology driven by feminism. She turned to analyze and support the ideas of Jungian psychology, which focused on the psychological growth of individuals as well as their creative outlets. In order to perform her psychoanalysis research, she utilized the help of many members of the Heterodoxy Club. Many Heterodites volunteered to, or paid to, participate in her analyses where Hinkle focused on allowing the participant to realize their full potential, open their creative minds, and think about sex and sexuality in a way that opposed the morals regarding sex typically seen during this time period. Through her analyses, she promoted the usefulness and creativity of women, the theory that women are more dominant than men when attempting to change societal views on sex and sexualities, and the idea that women face psychological consequences due to the power complex and social dominance of men. Hinkle critiqued the biases of psychoanalysis through a feminist lens by performing psychoanalysis on members of the Heterodoxy Club, promoting the psychological study of women, allowing women to achieve self-realization, and contradicting the sexism that frequented the psychology field. Hinkle also collaborated with other members of the Heterodoxy Club to spread awareness about her research on the psychology of women through her psychoanalyses. Her most significant partnership within the club was with

, who wrote ''The Verge'', a play about unorthodox and creative experiments done by women, similar to the types of experiments Hinkle performed. This play reflected on Hinkle's research by showcasing the creative minds of women, which allowed Hinkle's ideas to reach a larger audience and in turn cause more women to emphasize creativity in their lives in order to find self-realization.

Members

The members of Heterodoxy lived primarily in Greenwich Village,

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, and the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

. While some Heterodites were famous in their own right, little is known of many of them. * Katharine Anthony *

Sara Josephine Baker Sara Josephine Baker (November 15, 1873 – February 22, 1945) was an American physician notable for making contributions to public health, especially in the immigrant communities of New York City. Her fight against the damage that widespread ur ...

* Stella Cominsky Ballantine *

Bessie Beatty Elizabeth Mary "Bessie" Beatty (January 27, 1886 – April 6, 1947) was an American journalist, editor, playwright, and radio host. Early life and education Elizabeth Mary "Bessie" Beatty was born and raised in Los Angeles, one of four children o ...

* Edwine Behre * Frances Maule Bjorkman * Mary Bookstaver * Elinor Byrns * Elizabeth Ellsworth Cook * Marion Cothren * Mabel Potter Daggett * Maida Castelhun Darnton *

Agnes de Mille Agnes George de Mille (September 18, 1905 – October 7, 1993) was an American dancer and choreographer. Early years Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMill ...

* Anna George de Mille *

Mary Dennett Mary Coffin Ware Dennett (April 4, 1872 – July 25, 1947) was an American women's rights activist, pacifist, Homeopathy, homeopathic advocate, and pioneer in the areas of birth control, sex education, and women's suffrage. She co-founded t ...

* Rheta Childe Dorr * Elsie Dufour *

Crystal Eastman Crystal Catherine Eastman (June 25, 1881 – July 28, 1928) was an American lawyer, antimilitarist, feminist, socialist, and journalist. She was a leader in the fight for women's suffrage, a co-founder and co-editor with her brother Max Eastma ...

* Edith Ellis * Mateel Howe Farnham *

Mary Fels Mary Fels (, Fels; March 10, 1863 - May 16, 1953) was a German-born American philanthropist, Georgism, Georgist, Zionism, Zionist, Women's suffrage in the United States, suffragist, economics, economist, author, and journal editor. She was interest ...

Eleanor Fitzgerald Mary Eleanor Fitzgerald (March 16, 1877 – March 30, 1955) was an American editor and theatre professional, best known for her association with Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, and with the Provincetown Players. Early life and education Mary ...

Zona Gale Zona Gale (August 26, 1874 – December 27, 1938), also known by her married name, Zona Gale Breese, was an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. She became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921. The close r ...

* Myran Louise Grant * Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale * Ruth Hale * Anne Herendeen * Ami Mali Hicks * Beatrice M. Hinkle *

Leta Stetter Hollingworth Leta Stetter Hollingworth (May 25, 1886 – November 27, 1939) was an American psychologist, educator, and feminist. She made contributions in psychology of women, clinical psychology, and educational psychology. She is best known for her work wi ...

* Alison Turnbull Hopkins * Marie Jenney Howe * Helen Hull *

Fannie Hurst Fannie Hurst (October 18, 1889 – February 23, 1968) was an American novelist and short-story writer whose works were highly popular during the post-World War I era. Her work combined sentimental, romantic themes with social issues of the ...

* Elisabeth Irwin *

Inez Haynes Irwin Inez Haynes Irwin (March 2, 1873 – September 25, 1970) was an American feminist author, journalist, member of the National Woman's Party, and president of the Authors Guild. Many of her works were published under her former name Inez Haynes Gi ...

* Paula O. Jakobi *

* Gertrude Kelly *

Edna Kenton Edna Kenton (March 17, 1876 – February 28, 1954) was an American writer and literary critic. Kenton is best remembered for her 1928 work ''The Book of Earths,'' which collected various unusual and controversial theories about a hollow earth, At ...

* Fannie Kilbourn * Alice Mary Kimball * Fola La Follette * Ellen La Motte *

Eleanor Lawson Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal dialect">Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It was the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. ...

* Katherine Leckie *

Rose Strunsky Lorwin Rose Strunsky Lorwin (1884, Russia – 1963, New York City) was a Jewish Russian-American translator and socialist based in New York City. Early life and education Rose Strunsky was born to a Jewish Russian family in what is now Belarus and was pa ...

Mabel Dodge Luhan Mabel Evans Dodge Sterne Luhan (pronounced ''LOO-hahn''; née Ganson; February 26, 1879 – August 13, 1962) was an American patron of the arts, who was particularly associated with the Taos art colony. Early life Mabel Ganson was the heiress o ...

Mary Margaret McBride Mary Margaret McBride (November 16, 1899 – April 7, 1976) was an American radio interview host and writer. Her popular radio shows spanned more than 40 years. In the 1940s, the daily audience for her housewife-oriented program numbered from s ...

Inez Milholland Inez Milholland Boissevain (August 6, 1886 – November 25, 1916) was a leading American suffragist, lawyer, and peace activist. From her college days at Vassar College, she campaigned aggressively for women’s rights as the principal issue of ...

Alice Duer Miller Alice Duer Miller (July 28, 1874 – August 22, 1942) was an American writer whose poetry actively influenced political opinion. Her feminist verses influenced political opinion during the Women's suffrage in the United States, American suffrage ...

Elsie Clews Parsons Elsie Worthington Clews Parsons (November 27, 1875 – December 19, 1941) was an American anthropologist, sociologist, folklorist, and feminist who studied Native American tribes—such as the Tewa and Hopi—in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. ...

* Mary Field Parton * Ruth Pickering Pinchot *

Grace Potter Grace Evelyn Potter (born June 20, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released five solo albums: ''Red Shoe Rebel'' (2002), ''Original Soul'' (2004), ''Midnight'' (2015), ''Daylight'' (2019), and '' Mother Road'' (2023) ...

* Ida Sedgwick Proper * Nina Wilcox Putnam *

Henrietta Rodman Henrietta Rodman (August 29, 1877 – March 21, 1923) was an American educator and feminist. She was active in advocating on behalf of married women teachers for their right to promotion and maternity leave. Early life and education Rodman ...

* Netha Roe * Lou Rogers *

Florence Guy Woolston Seabury Florence Guy Seabury (formerly Woolston; April 1881 – October 6, 1951) was an American journalist and feminist essayist, and a member of Heterodoxy. Early life and education Florence Guy was born in 1881 in Montclair, New Jersey, the daughter of ...

* Mary Shaw * Anne O'Hagan Shinn *

Sarah Field Splint Sarah Field Splint (1883–1959) was an American author, editor, domestic science consultant, and feminist. Biography Sarah Field Splint, of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, was an alumna of Colby College. From 1914 to 1919 she was the editor of the ma ...

Rose Pastor Stokes Rose Harriet Pastor Stokes (née Wieslander; July 18, 1879 – June 20, 1933) was an American socialist activist, writer, birth control advocate, and feminist. She was a figure of some public notoriety after her 1905 marriage to Episcopalian milli ...

Vida Ravenscroft Sutton Vida Ravenscroft Sutton (1878 — July 27, 1956) was an American playwright, voice teacher, and radio professional. Early life and education Vida Ravenscroft Sutton was born in Oakland, California and raised in Helena, Montana, the daughter of D ...

* Kathleen de Vere Taylor * Signe Kristine Toksvig *

* Elizabeth C. Watson *

Helen Westley Helen Westley (born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney; March 28, 1875 – December 12, 1942) was an American character actress of stage and screen. Early years Westley was born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney in Brooklyn, New York on March 28, ...

* Vira Boarman Whitehouse *

Margaret Widdemer Margaret Widdemer (September 30, 1884 – July 14, 1978) was an American poet and novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize (known then as the Columbia University Prize) in 1919 for her collection ''The Old Road to Paradise'', shared with Carl Sandburg ...

Margaret Wycherly Margaret De Wolfe Wycherly (26 October 1881 – 6 June 1956) was an English actress. A prolific stage and screen performer, she spent many years in the Cinema of the United States, United States and is best remembered for her Broadway theatre, B ...

I. A. R. Wylie Ida Alexa Ross Wylie (16 March 1885 – 4 November 1959), known by her pen name I.A.R. Wylie, was an Australian-British-American novelist, screenwriter, short story writer, poet, and suffragette sympathiser who was honoured by the journalistic a ...

* Rose Emmet Young

Notes

References

*(=Thesis M.A., 1977) {{Authority control Feminist organizations in the United States Feminism in New York City