Doctoral Dissertation Research: Family Membership, Marital Status, and Citizenship

Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Brunswick NJ

Investigators

Abstract

Marital status and membership in a traditional family have been central in defining a sense of belonging in the nation. Since the early years of the American Republic, the ideal citizen has been imagined as married and part of a family. This project will examine how the state created laws and policies designed to regulate the lives of single people, and how status as a single person shaped individual’s relationship to the state and their claim to citizenship. This project will focus on five groups of single people in the U.S. during the first half of the 20th century: World War I veterans, single immigrants, young single women, transients, and young unemployed single men during the Depression. Based on theories of citizenship, gender, and mobility, this project will employ a qualitative analysis of archival collections and documents to analyze the various legal responses of the state to the perceived threat of singleness. By analyzing the legal history of single people and the state, this research will provide insight into laws and policies aimed at nontraditional families and singleness. Ultimately, this study will assess how family membership and marital status, and the lack thereof, have shaped an understanding of citizenship. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.