Date of Award
8-1994
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Dr. Michael S. Nassaney
Second Advisor
Dr. Peter Schmitt
Third Advisor
Dr. William Cremin
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
This study examined ways in which social class and gender were expressed in the landscape and material culture of the Merriman-Sharp Farm, a nineteenth century upper class farm owned by women in Jackson, Michigan. Material culture studies, landscape architecture, and architectural history were used in addition to available documents to focus on how the Merriman-Sharp family reflected their class and gender affiliations.
The social construction of reality is an ongoing process at the Merriman-Sharp farm through the Ella W. Sharp Park and Ella W. Sharp Museum. The ways in which the Ella W. Sharp Park and Ella W. Sharp Museum present these issues of class and gender to the modern public were also considered.
Recommended Citation
Nickolai, Carol A., "Ella Sharp's Hillside Farm: Expressions of Class and Gender in Nineteenth Century Rural Michigan" (1994). Masters Theses. 4013.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4013