Power, Distinction, Display: Excavating Elites

Elite Women in 1860:

Few and Confined to Traditional Roles at the Fringes

As can be seen in the charts to the left, the distribution of social capital among men, married women, and single women in 1860 was highly unequal. Although women acted as powerful brokers of social capital as hostesses, these roles were not visible in our data collection in 1860. For public participation in civic life, women were on the periphery, with participation in organizations that operated within a highly constrained, maternalist and charitable mode, such as the City Tract and Mission Society Fundraising Committee, the Home for the Friendless, and the Benevolent Assn of West IN St. 

Comparisons of Social Capital Metrics

The 20 most central men had combined hub scores of 2.28, or 12% of the total (18.9344) social capital for the whole network. 

The 20 most central married women had combined hub scores of 0.17, just 0.9% of the total social capital of the whole network. 

The 20 most central single women had had combined hub scores of just. 0.10, or just 0.5% of the total social capital of the network.