Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Part 1 Defining a feminine sphere of action, 1830-1914 -- 1 Public roles for maternal authority: the introduction of inspectresses, 1830-1870 -- The origins of French nursery schools (salles d'asile) -- The first inspectresses general of nursery schools -- A prison inspectress for the Ministry of the Interior -- Inspectresses and the mid-century upheaval -- The Second Empire and new inspectresses -- 2 Educating a new democracy: school inspectresses and the Third Republic -- Republican reformers and nursery school inspectresses, 1879-1889 -- A battle of the sexes over primary school inspectresses -- The appeal of feminism to inspectresses -- 3 Addressing crime, poverty, and depopulation: the Interior ministry inspectresses -- Inspectresses of girls' reform schools and women's prisons -- Inspectresses for children's services: innovation and controversy -- Inspectresses general and their mission -- 4 Protecting women workers: the Labor administration -- The identity of labor inspectresses -- Inspectresses, senior administrators, and work-related problems -- The Labor administration's employment of women -- Part 2 Steps toward equality: women's administrative careers since the First World War -- Introduction The First World War: a "1789" for women? -- 5 New opportunities for women in central government offies, 1919-1929 -- The first rédactrices, 1919-1923 -- Rédactrices evaluated: supporters and critics -- Career commitments and private lives -- The rédactrices of 1924-1929 -- Women administrators' status in 1929: prospects and problems -- 6 The challenges of the 1930s for women civil servants -- Contesting and defending women administrators' roles, 1930-1934.

Dilemmas in the War ministry and other administrations, 1934-1936 -- The Popular Front interlude -- Women civil servants: general patterns and individual cases -- 7 Gendered assignments in the interwar Labor, Health, and Education ministries -- The impact of the First World War on gendered assignments -- Prospects and problems for women administrators, 1919-1935 -- From the Popular Front to the Second World War, 1936-1939 -- 8 Firings and hirings, collaboration and resistance: women civil servants and the Second World War -- Vichy's administrative purges -- Promotions, transfers, new appointments -- Women administrators' voices -- Collaboration and resistance -- 9 After the pioneers: women administrators since 1945 -- Reclassifications and promotions -- Gender and administrative realities during the 1950s -- Women administrators under the Fifth Republic -- Conclusion -- Select bibliography -- ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPT SOURCES -- FRANCE -- Archives Nationales, Section Moderne, General series -- Archives Nationales, Section Contemporaine -- Archives de l'Assistance publique -- Archives de la Préfecture de police, Paris -- Archives Départementales de Paris (formerly Archives de la Seine) -- Bibliothéque Historique de la Ville de Paris -- Bibliothéque Marguerite Durand -- Bibliothéque Nationale -- Private collections -- Service Historique de l'Armée de Terre -- United States -- OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS -- BOOKS AND ARTICLES -- UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT -- REFERENCE WORKS -- Index.