Is Marriage a Failure?

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The first national report on divorce statistics was put up by the bureau of labor in 18 89. They found that divorce rates had been climbing most of all in the dakota territory. Newspapers around the country responded to the news with headlines like, is marriage a failure? And what you see happen is effort to reduce the number of divorces through pretty much any means people come up with.

This episode picks up where Episode 193 left off. We suggest you listen to them in order.

Blanche Molineux visited her husband while he was in prison for murder to keep up what she called the “ghastly pretense.” But eventually, she couldn’t keep it up anymore, and bought a train ticket to a place called "The Divorce Colony."

April White’s book is The Divorce Colony: How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Found Freedom on the American Frontier.

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