Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain: The Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, 1787-1823

FAIN: FT-264906-19

Catherine Marie Jaffe
Texas State University - San Marcos (San Marcos, TX 78666-4684)

Research and preparation for a book of on the philanthropic contributions of Spanish women in the 18^th-century Enlightenment.

I will produce a collaborative book with U.S. and Spanish historians and literary scholars on the history of the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito de la Sociedad Económica Matritense (the Women’s Council of Honor and Merit of the Royal Madrid Economic Society), a philanthropic organization of elite women founded in 1787 to promote enlightened reform of institutions for poor women and children. I will work two months summer 2019 in archives in Madrid to complete my chapter on the women’s writings as a projection of a collective, feminine Enlightened identity. I will edit the chapters and write the introduction with my Spanish co-editor, a historian, and consult with other historians. The book shows that the Junta made a compelling contribution to the Enlightenment, to women’s history, and to the history of feminism. It will expand scholars’ knowledge of Spanish women’s contributions to Enlightenment, especially for readers without access to scholarship published in Spanish.

Media Coverage

Facebook Live book presentation (Media Coverage)
Publication: Louisiana State University Press Facebook
Date: 5/5/2022
Abstract: Link for presentation on Facebook Live: https://fb.me/e/3mVS2BeQ2 Please join us Thursday, May 5th at 2pm CT (3pm ET) for a live virtual discussion and Q&A featuring co-editor Catherine M. Jaffe, contributor Betsy Lewis, and their new LSU Press book, "Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain." Live video feed of this event will appear in this discussion thread on Thursday, May 5th at 2pm CT. If you select "going," you will get a notification once the video has started. The presentation will take place from 2–2:30pm, followed by a 10-minute Q&A.
URL: https://bit.ly/juntadedamas

Presentación del libro Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain: The Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito (Media Coverage)
Date: 5/24/2022
Abstract: Presentación del libro Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain The Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, 1787-1823 editado por Catherine M. Jaffe y Elisa Martín-Valdepeñas Intervendrá Anne Cruz, catedrática de Literatura Española en la Universidad de Miami Martes, 24 de mayo de 2022. 19:00 horas Real Sociedad Económica Matritense de Amigos del País Plaza de la Villa, 2 (entrada por la calle del Codo) 28005 Madrid
URL: http://https://twitter.com/lsupress/status/1534234239310364678/photo/1

Review: Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain (Review)
Author(s): Tikoff, Valentina K.
Publication: Dieciocho: Hispanic Enlightenment
Date: 2/18/2023
Abstract: Review of Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain: The Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, 1787-1823
URL: http://https://dieciocho.uvacreate.virginia.edu/46.1/

Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain: The Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, 1787-1823 (Review)
Author(s): Poska, Allyson M.
Date: 12/1/2022
Abstract: review of Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain: The Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, 1787-1823
URL: http://https://direct.mit.edu/jinh/article-abstract/53/3/529/114336/Society-Women-and-Enlightened-Charity-in-Spain-The?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Associated Products

Las escritoras y el feminismo ilustrado español (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Las escritoras y el feminismo ilustrado español
Abstract: Women writers such as Josefa Amar y Borbón were crucial to the debate over the admittance of women to the Royal Madrid Economic Society. She continued earlier 17th-century debates regarding ratonal equality and defended women's ability to contribute usefully to the public good through action in the public sphere.
Author: Catherine M. Jaffe
Date: 10/31/2019
Location: Universidad Autónoma de Madarid

Un espacio femenino para la creación cultural en el Madrid del siglo XVIII: La Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito (Book Section)
Title: Un espacio femenino para la creación cultural en el Madrid del siglo XVIII: La Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito
Author: Elisa Martín-Valdepeñas Yagüe
Author: Catherine M. Jaffe
Editor: María D. Martos
Abstract: The women of the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito of the Real Sociedad Económica Matritense projected a collective identity as authors through the reports about their activities that they wrote, presented in public ceremonies, and published in Madrid. They claimed corporate identity through the paratexts of their published speeches accepting membership, and they signaled feminine networks in the paratexts of their published eulogies to their royal sponsors. They strategically claimed a voice in the public sphere through their publications and public ceremonies, a type of feminine self-fashioning as civic reformers.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: http://https://www.iberoamericana-vervuert.es/FichaLibro.aspx?P1=193675
Primary URL Description: publisher website
Secondary URL: http://https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/libro?codigo=828814
Secondary URL Description: Dialnet listing
Access Model: book chapter
Publisher: Iberoamericana - Vervuert
Book Title: Redes y escritoras ibéricas en la esfera cultural de la primera Edad Moderna
ISBN: 978-84-9192-20

Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain: The Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, 1787-1823 (Book)
Title: Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain: The Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, 1787-1823
Editor: Elisa Martín-Valdepeñas Yagüe
Editor: Catherine M. Jaffe
Abstract: In original essays drawn from a myriad of archival materials, Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain reveals how the members of the Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito, founded in 1787 to administer charities and schools for impoverished women and children, claimed a role in the public sphere through their self-representation as civic mothers and created an enlightened legacy for modern feminism in Spain.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: https://lsupress.org/books/detail/society-women-and-enlightened-charity-in-spain/
Primary URL Description: publisher's webpage
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
Type: Edited Volume
ISBN: 9780807176801
Copy sent to NEH?: No

¿Ilustradas, o sabias, literatas y bachilleras? Las autoras de la Junta de Damas de la Real Sociedad matritense entre la tradición y la modernidad (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: ¿Ilustradas, o sabias, literatas y bachilleras? Las autoras de la Junta de Damas de la Real Sociedad matritense entre la tradición y la modernidad
Author: Jaffe, Catherine M.
Abstract: The women writers of the Junta de Damas respond to traditional, negative stereotypes of learned women.
Date: 09/28/2022
Primary URL: http://seminariosaberycreacion.wordpress.com/
Primary URL Description: Wordpress webpage for Seminar Saber y crear en femenino: género, cultura y modernidad entre los siglos XV-XX
Conference Name: Seminario Internacional Saber y crear en femenino: género, cultura y modernidad entre los siglos XV-XX

Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Society Women and Enlightened Charity in Spain
Abstract: A public lecture for the Austin, TX chapter of the American Association of University Women about eighteenth-century Spanish women entering the public sphere through charity and writing.
Author: Jaffe, Catherine M.
Date: 04/12/2023
Location: Austin, TX
Primary URL: http://austin-tx.aauw.net/activities/branch-programs/
Primary URL Description: Austin-Texas AAUW branch activities and programs

The Women Writers of the Junta de Damas of the Real Sociedad Matritense: Feminine Utility and the Spanish Enlightenment (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: The Women Writers of the Junta de Damas of the Real Sociedad Matritense: Feminine Utility and the Spanish Enlightenment
Author: Jaffe, Catherine M.
Abstract: invited lecture in course on "Mujeres y letras en la Edad Moderna" at the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Spain
Date Range: October 2022
Location: virtual
Primary URL: http://http://www.uimp.es/agenda-link.html?id_actividad=65C5&anyaca=2022-23
Primary URL Description: webpage of the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo

Enlightenment Utility and Feminine Community: The Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito of the Real Sociedad Económica Matritense (Article)
Title: Enlightenment Utility and Feminine Community: The Junta de Damas de Honor y Mérito of the Real Sociedad Económica Matritense
Author: Jaffe, Catherine M. and Elisa Martín-Valdepeñas
Abstract: The Junta de Damas was a product of a new way of imagining social relations that co-existed with more traditional networks and ties of religion, family, and social status. It was a pioneering example of a modern, secular, community of women devoted to civic activism to promote social welfare. It established its communal identity through its written statutes and chronicled its activities through its written reports. In this way, it is a crucial milestone in the continuum of feminine associations and communities from the early modern period to the modern era.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://https://dieciocho.uvacreate.virginia.edu/issues.html
Primary URL Description: webpage of journal Dieciocho: Hispanic Enlightenment
Access Model: open access
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Dieciocho: Hispanic Enlightenment
Publisher: Dieciocho: Hispanic Enlightenment Vol. 45, no. 2 (Fall 2022), pp. 191-214.

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