Maddux Authors New Book

Published by Penn State Press, entitled Practicing Citizenship: Women's Rhetoric at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair

Associate Professor Kristy Maddux is the author of a new book, recently published by Penn State University Press. Entitled Practicing Citizenship: Women's Rhetoric at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, Maddux's book "provides a glimpse at an unprecedented alternative act of citizenship by women of the time: their deliberative participation in the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893." As the published notes, "Maddux examines the planning of the event, the full program of women speakers, and dozens of speeches given in the fair’s daily congresses. In particular, she analyzes the ways in which these women shaped the discourse at the fair and modeled to the world practices of democratic citizenship, including deliberative democracy, racial uplift, organizing, and economic participation. In doing so, Maddux shows how these pioneering women claimed sociopolitical ground despite remaining disenfranchised."

Initial reviews of Practicing Citizenship are good: Robert Terrill, a professor of English at Indiana University, calls it "an outstanding book" that is "thoroughly research and engagingly written." Wisconsin's Robert Asen agrees, saying "In this remarkable study of women's contributions to the World's Columbian Exposition, Kristy Maddux complicates and nuances scholarship on citizenship. Maddux invites readers to consider historical practices in new ways, offering a fuller understanding of their past significance and future potential. Deftly weaving together historical detail and analytic insight, Maddux illuminates the ‘multivocality’ of citizenship.”