To America! Transatlantic Mediation

Using the example of Käthe Schirmacher’s travel to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, this chapter explores the transatlantic networks and the internationalisation strategies of women’s movements in the late nineteenth century. It discusses the role of multilingual mediators in the building of transnational networks of activism and the opportunities this role offered to young, well-educated women like Schirmacher who were looking for both an income and a political mission. The chapter also analyses the concept of the ‘new woman’ Schirmacher propagated in her speech at the congress and argues that in so doing she contributed to shaping a new persona that opened up professional identities for women and thus chances to earn an independent income.