The American Woman's Home is a book published in 1869, co-authored by Catharine Beecher and her sister Harriet Beecher Stowe. It expands upon Catharine’s 1841 book, A Treatise on Domestic Economy, which aimed to codify women's housekeeping duties and draw attention to the importance of this labor. The American Woman's Home presents the sisters' views on domesticity and how these ideals shaped their vision of a proper American household. The American Woman's Home prioritizes necessity over excessive furnishing or decor. It also seeks to eliminate the distinction between private and public spaces by creating communal spaces and eliminating the need for servants. These features, the sisters believed, would allow women’s roles of housework and nurturing the family to thrive.[1] The book remains a foundational text in modern house design.[1]
- ^ a b Strazdes, Diana (2009). "Catharine Beecher and the American Woman's Puritan Home". The New England Quarterly. 82 (3): 452–89. doi:10.1162/tneq.2009.82.3.452. JSTOR 25652030 – via JSTOR.