Mercedes “Sadie” Haigler is a Society of Cincinnati Dissertation Fellow at the McNeil Center and a PhD Candidate in History at the University of Virginia. She studies political culture and social life in early Washington with a focus on the influence of feminized sociability on political strategies and party building in Congress. She is broadly interested in histories of political ideology, partisanship, women and gender, and congressional development in the United States.
Q: How did you become interested in your dissertation topic?
Haigler: Ever since studying early American history in high school, I have enjoyed discussions of politics more than any other aspect of my courses. As a teenager, I was a voracious reader of popular histories of America’s earliest politicians. So when I arrived in graduate school, I knew I wanted to study one of the earliest administrations and US Congresses, with the intent of discovering how early American politics actually happened in day-to-day life. I had always heard that the early congressional system was dysfunctional, and consensus was hard to come by. Many political histories discuss the ideologies behind political decisions and outcomes, but for me, it still felt difficult to understand how consensus was established in a dysfunctional democratic system that was almost entirely experimental. When I began to investigate what early American women-- the wives and daughters of America’s first politicians-- were doing in republican Philadelphia and Washington DC, I felt like I was finally moving toward an answer. I realized that the dinners, teas, and salons that elite women were not only present in, but actively presided over, were the key to how political majorities were achieved. Studying how political life actually happened, rather than focusing solely on ideals or congressional speeches, makes it so much clearer how our democracy actually worked in its earliest years, and how important social events and domestic spaces were to making it work. It also gives early American women like Dolley Madison, Anne Willing Bingham, and Elizabeth Kortright Monroe the proper credit and roles they deserve in our political histories. Politics is sometimes thought of as a dry topic but when you dig into how political and partisan organization played out in social spaces that included both genders, political histories become vibrant and exciting. Can you tell I love House of Cards and Bridgerton?
Q: Who are the three scholars who most influenced your own work?
Haigler: My mind immediately goes to Joanne B. Freeman. Her fantastic book, Affairs of Honor, discussing honor culture and the power of reputation in early American political life, was extremely fascinating and inspiring to me. Freeman is able to actually get inside the events she describes. When 1790s congressmen are making up silly rhymes to mock Vice President John Adams, Freeman makes you feel like you are sitting in the room. Her focus on personalities and lived experience as analytical frameworks has been extremely influential in my own work. Rosemarie Zagarri’s wonderful work on female political involvement in the early Republic has also been extremely useful for my own work. Her willingness to think about early American women as partisans in their own right really inspired my own investigations of partisan women in Washington. Everyone should read her book, Revolutionary Backlash, immediately if you haven’t already! I also want to give Catherine Allgor a shoutout. Her wonderful study of political women in Washington DC, Parlor Politics, has been very influential in my own work. We often don’t come to the same conclusions in our studies, but I have deep respect for the work she has done, and my own project stands on the shoulders of her work.
Q: What is the primary source you’ve most enjoyed using in your research?
Haigler: My second chapter deals with Thomas Jefferson’s interpretation of the partisan caucus and how he used mixed-gender dinners at the White House to disguise Republican caucuses with allies in Congress. Jefferson kept a meticulous list of who attended his dinners every day of his term for the later part of his first term and the entirety of his second. This fascinating account of social events really tells us who was in the room for Jefferson’s politicized dinners, which is rare when examining spaces and activities that politicians actively tried to conceal. Jefferson’s dinner guest lists were really the key to a close reading of how Jefferson used his dinners for partisan organization, allowing me to line up important decisions in Congress with whom Jefferson had dined with on a particular day, which was pretty exciting. The Jefferson dinner lists are held at the Massachusetts Historical Society and are really worth looking at if you get a chance.
Q; What are some highlights of your time spent in Philadelphia as a McNeil Center fellow?
Haigler: I have definitely taken advantage of all of the great historical sites and monuments around town during my stay in Philadelphia. As a historian of early America, it’s really thrilling to be able to visit both the Independence Hall and Congress Hall in an afternoon. I also love the Museum of the American Revolution. I’ve been several times!
Q: What are some of the highlights of your time spent in Philadelphia as a McNeil Center fellow?
Haigler: Definitely the staff and other fellows. I have been blown away by all of the amazing projects this year’s cohort has been working on. Being surrounded by other early Americanists is a real treat and allows for great conversations. I have learned a lot from our conversations at MCEAS Brown Bags and Seminars. It’s also amazing to have my own office space. During my experience as a grad student, a space of one’s own has been quite difficult to come by. McNeil is very generous in the office space that they provide. I’ve gotten so much done since I arrived at the McNeil Center!
Mercedes “Sadie” Haigler is a Society of Cincinnati Dissertation Fellow at the McNeil Center and a PhD Candidate in History at the University of Virginia. To learn more about her dissertation, visit her bio page.