Community Building and Early Public Relations: Pioneer Women's Role on and after the Oregon Trail

Women played a crucial role in westward migration in the US, and this book explores their experiences on the Oregon Trail. It draws parallels between their roles and PR's functions of relationship-building, networking, community building, boundary spanning, and advocacy. It reveals how these women filled Caretaker/Advocate, Community Builder, Civilizing Function, Agency and Leadership, and provided Emotional Connection for Social Cohesion. However, their interactional qualities also made them complicit in colonization, altering indigenous peoples' way of life. The book is of interest to PR students, practitioners, and researchers of PR history and social identity intersectionalities, encouraging us to expand the definition of PR to include community building and revise linear timeline and evolutionary models to accommodate voices of women and people of color prior to the twentieth century.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 38 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

From the outset, women played a pivotal role in a century of westward migration in the United States. Community Building and Early Public Relations: Pioneer Women's Role on and after the Oregon Trail presents a groundbreaking approach to expanding the historical narrative of public relations (PR) in the United States, particularly in its Caucasian/White male-gendered history. This book is grounded in humanist, communitarian, critical race theory, social constructionist perspectives, and a feminist communicology lens, which analyze the lived experiences of U.S. pioneer women. By drawing parallels with PR's fundamental functions, including relationship-building, networking, community building, boundary spanning, and advocacy, this book offers a fresh perspective on the role of women in PR.

Using narrative analysis of diaries and reminiscences of women who traveled over 2,000 miles on the Oregon Trail in the mid-to-late 1800s, Pompper uncovers how these women fulfilled roles such as Caretaker/Advocate, Community Builder of Meeting Houses and Schools, served a Civilizing Function, provided Agency and Leadership, and fostered Emotional Connection for Social Cohesion. Furthermore, the book reveals an inherent paradox, as Caucasian/White pioneer women's interactive qualities made them complicit in colonization, forever altering the way of life of indigenous peoples.

This book holds significant interest for undergraduate and graduate PR students, PR practitioners, and researchers of PR history and social identity intersectionalities. It encourages us to broaden the definition of PR to encompass community building and revise linear timeline and evolutionary models to accommodate the voices of women and people of color prior to the twentieth century. By doing so, we can create a more inclusive and equitable PR industry that reflects the diverse experiences and contributions of all individuals.

Weight: 410g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367679361