“The Presence of Improper Females” Reforming Theater in Boston and Providence, 1820s–1840s

This article examples the class and gender politics of theater reform in Boston, MA and Providence, RI of the 1820s-1840s focused on the third tier and sex work or prostitution in theaters. Both regulatory campaigns and Christian or moral reform mobilized constructions of the prostitute as predator while encouraging new policing of working women.